The plastic industry gives direct employment to more than 1.5 million people in Europe. An industry in which close to 60,000 companies operate, most of them SME’s. The European plastic industry had a turnover of 355 billion euros in 2017.The European plastic industry had a trade balance  of more than 17 billion euros in 2017.The Europeanplastic industry contributed to 32.5 billion euros to public finances and welfare in 2017.