The Minderoo Foundation’s analysis estimates expected liabilities from plastic-related litigation in the United States from 2022 to 2030 at more than US$20 billion, with a 1-in-100 chance of exceeding US$100 billion.
- Authors / organisation
- Merkl and Charles (Minderoo Foundation), with Praedicat
- Year
- 2022
- Journal or publisher
- Minderoo Foundation (report)
- Study type
- Model / projection
- Evidence strength
- Evidence: Medium
- Sample / scope
- Litigation-risk model for plastic-related claims in the United States, 2022–2030
- Key finding
- Expected liabilities from plastics litigation in the United States in 2022–30 exceed US$20 billion; there is a 1% chance they exceed US$100 billion.
- Headline number
- More than US$20 billion in expected US liabilities
- Caveats / how it is misquoted
- The report calls the estimate preliminary. Concentrated on polymer and chemical makers. Written and published by the Minderoo Foundation, a philanthropic organisation.
- Open access
- Yes
- Verified on
- 23 September 2026
The Minderoo Foundation’s The Price of Plastic Pollution (2022), with litigation-risk modelling by Praedicat, estimated the legal exposure companies face from harm linked to plastic pollution and plastic chemicals. Minderoo is an Australian philanthropic organisation set up by Andrew and Nicola Forrest in 2001.
Expected liabilities from plastics litigation in the United States between 2022 and 2030 exceed US$20 billion, and there is about a 1% chance they exceed US$100 billion. The risk sits mostly with polymer and chemical makers, but brand owners face growing claims about recyclability and pollution too.
For boards and investors, this is plastic as a legal and reputational risk, alongside taxes and fees.
