Texas leads US in plastic manufacturing, job creation

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(The Center Square) – Texas leads the U.S. in plastics manufacturing and job creation, according to a new analysis from the American Chemistry Council (ACC).

This is as Texas continues to lead the U.S. in job creation, with the oil and natural gas sector playing a key role, The Center Square reported.

In 2024, plastics manufacturers in Texas generated $61.5 billion worth of goods and supported 54,090 well-paying jobs across 840 facilities statewide. Texas workers earned an average of $85,680 annually in the industry, among the highest in the U.S. The sector’s total payroll last year was $4.6 billion, according to the analysis.

Texas leads all states in total plastics manufacturing jobs, production value, and total payroll. It ranks second nationally behind Louisiana for having the highest average wages in the industry. It ranks second behind California for having the greatest number of plastics manufacturing facilities, according to an analysis of state data.

“Plastics are essential to modern life, powering our economy and enabling innovation in everything from healthcare and clean energy to transportation and safe food and water,” America’s Plastic Makers president Ross Eisenberg said. “Plastics manufacturing means good jobs, strong wages, and sustained investment in America’s future.” 

Nationwide, the U.S. plastics manufacturing industry operated more than 11,600 facilities nationwide and employed nearly 670,000 workers directly, generating a payroll of $48.6 billion last year, the council explains. U.S. plastic makers produced nearly $380 billion worth of plastic resins and products and invested $17.5 billion in new facilities and equipment last year, the council says. 

Nearly all industries rely on plastic products, including the key automotive, construction, healthcare, and packaging industries that employ nearly five million people. These industries alone paid nearly $400 billion in wages last year. However, the industry’s products support nearly 5 million U.S. jobs, the analysis states. 

Plastics are also a major contributor to U.S. trade, with U.S. exports totaling nearly $64 billion worth of goods last year. With strong domestic production capacity led by Texas, the U.S. has experienced a trade surplus in plastic resins and remains a global leader in materials manufacturing, the council explains.

While the industry is undeniably a job and economic engine, it’s also come under fire for allegations and lawsuits related to pollution, environmental regulation violations and community health problems. An Environmental Integrity Project analysis published earlier this year found that 84% of plastics plants evaluated nationwide violated their air pollution control permits over the last three years.

It cites examples of problems at plants in Texas located north of Corpus Christi and Port Arthur. One is ExxonMobile’s ethane cracker, located north of Corpus Christi built in partnership with the Saudi Arabian government in 2021, which received $259 million in taxpayer funded subsidies from the state and local school district. While the companies “promised local parents that they would ‘follow through with our good neighbor commitments on health and safety, quality of life… and being good environmental stewards,’” the plant had 63 environmental violations in less than two years and released a half million pounds of air pollutants in numerous “upset” incidents, the report states, citing public records. 

Another example cited is Bayport Polymers ethane cracker in Port Arthur, owned by the French energy giant TotalEnergies and partners. It released more than 9.2 million pounds of air pollutants in a series of unpermitted “upset” incidents, the report states. It received $76 million in state and local tax breaks before it became operational in 2021.

“The poor environmental track record of these plastics plants is alarming because the industry is expanding rapidly, and more communities are being asked to consider public subsidies,” the organization says.

The ten plastics manufacturing plants that received the most taxpayer funded subsidies nationwide are located in Texas and Louisiana; the top ten emitters of Benzene and 1,3-butadiene in 2021 were nearly all in Texas and all along the Gulf, according to the report.