Chemical Manufacturing
SmartSectors

The chemical manufacturing sector is a large industry that produces a wide range of products from basic chemical ingredients to advanced finished products such as pharmaceuticals.

Use the checkboxes below to select an environmental performance and an economic indicator.

Environmental Performance Indicators







Economic Indicators



What is in this chart?

This chart shows total air emissions, as reported annually to EPA’s Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) between 1996 and 2022, by establishments classified into NAICS 325 (chemical manufacturing). Total air emissions decreased from 424 million pounds in 1996 to 166 million pounds in 2022.

What are TRI air emissions?

Total air emissions reported to TRI include fugitive air emissions and stack air emissions. Fugitive air emissions are all releases to air that do not occur through a confined air stream; such emissions may include equipment leaks, releases from building ventilation systems, and evaporative losses from surface impoundments and spills. Stack air emissions are releases to air that occur through a confined air stream, such as stacks, ducts, or pipes.

The quantity of releases does not indicate the level of health risk posed by the emissions. TRI data can vary from year to year at the facility and sector levels for a variety of reasons. For questions about specific values, contact TRI. In addition to TRI reporting, chemical manufacturers are subject to statutory and regulatory requirements, including permitting.

Select an Economic Indicator Click to View Totals

What is in this chart?

This chart shows total air emissions, as reported annually to EPA’s Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) between 1996 and 2018, by establishments classified into NAICS 325 (chemical manufacturing). Total air emissions decreased from 424 million pounds in 1996 to 158 million pounds in 2018.

What are TRI air emissions?

Total air emissions reported to TRI include fugitive air emissions and stack air emissions. Fugitive air emissions are all releases to air that do not occur through a confined air stream; such emissions may include equipment leaks, releases from building ventilation systems, and evaporative losses from surface impoundments and spills. Stack air emissions are releases to air that occur through a confined air stream, such as stacks, ducts, or pipes.

The quantity of releases does not indicate the level of health risk posed by the emissions. TRI data can vary from year to year at the facility and sector levels for a variety of reasons. For questions about specific values, contact TRI. In addition to TRI reporting, chemical manufacturers are subject to statutory and regulatory requirements, including permitting.

The chemical manufacturing sector (NAICS 325) is a large and diverse industry comprised of multiple subsectors that manufacture:

  • Basic Chemicals. (NAICS 3251)
  • Resins, Synthetic Rubbers, and Artificial and Synthetic Fibers and Filaments. (NAICS 3252)
  • Pesticides, Fertilizers and Other Agricultural Chemicals. (NAICS 3253)
  • Pharmaceuticals and Medicines. (NAICS 3254)
  • Paints, Coatings and Adhesives. (NAICS 3255)
  • Soaps, Cleaning Compounds and Toiletries. (NAICS 3256)
  • Other Chemical Products. (NAICS 3259)

Data presented in the Snapshot cover the entire chemical manufacturing sector (NAICS 325). The number of facilities reporting data for the most recent year represented in the Snapshot charts for each environmental indicator are shown below:

Indicator EPA Program Facilities Reporting
Air Emission Toxic Release Inventory 2825
Criteria air pollutants National Emission Inventory 1505
Greenhouse gases Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program 356
Hazardous waste National Biannual Report 1941
Production-related waste managed Toxic Release Inventory 2891
Recycling of waste chemicals Toxic Release Inventory 448
Releases to land Toxic Release Inventory 186
Water discharges Toxic Release Inventory 503

NOTE: Variation in facilities counts between indicators reflects differences in reporting requirements. For more information, click on the program links in the chart description.

The Smart Sectors Chemical Manufacturing Sector Information page has more details on the industry and related EPA programs.

Air Emissions

How to Download Your Data
  1. Go to https://www.epa.gov/enviro/tri-ez-search.
  2. Scroll down and click on “Flat (Denormalized) Form R – A flat view of the TRI database that contains a majority of the available TRI information.
  3. Select the following variables from the list of data elements provided.
    1. Reporting Year
    2. In the row immediately below Air Total Release check the box above SUM
    3. Primary NAICS Code
  4. Scroll to the bottom of the page and click on “STEP 3: Enter Search Criteria”
  5. On the next page:
    1. For Reporting Year – switch Operator Definition to “Between.” In the Search Value field, enter the first year shown in the Sector Snapshots chart, followed by “AND”, and the last year shown in the Sector Snapshots chart. For example, if the first year is 1996 and the last year is 2022, enter “1996 AND 2022” in the Search Value field. In the Sort Column field, enter “1.” (You can leave the other columns blank or unchanged.)
    2. For Primary NAICS Code – switch Operator to “Beginning with,” and enter 325 (Chemicals) under Search Value. Then check the last box to the right under “Where Only.”
    3. Click on “Search database” or “Output to CSV File”
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Criteria Air Pollutants

How to Download Your Data

Note: The data are available in a tab or comma-delimited text format that must be imported into a program that will allow you to analyze the file (such as Excel).

  1. Go to: Get Air Emissions Data | US EPA which has a table with yearly data tables. Download the data years desired.
  2. In the “Table of Air Emissions Data by Year and Time”, select the relevant NEI file under the Triennial NEI column for years within the range of the Snapshot Sectors Graphic.
  3. For 1996 – 2005, select the file with “naics” or “sics” in the file name. For example, for 2000, use the “2000sicsummarymade09” file, but for 2005, use the “naics_summary.zip” file.
  4. For 2008 and onwards, click the “Data Summaries” hyperlink, then download the “Facility-level by Pollutant” File.
  5. Chemical manufacturing facilities are grouped under SIC codes 2812, 2813, 2816, 2819, 2821-24, 2833-36, 2841-44, 2851, 2861, 2865, 2869, 2873, 2875, 2879, 2891-93, 2895, 2899, 2923, 2974, and 3087 for the years 1996 and 1999 and NAICS codes beginning with 325 for the years 2002 – 2017.
  6. Using the SIC and NAICS variables, filter for chemical products facilities, then sum total emissions of CO, NOX, VOC, PM10, NH3, and SO2 in each year to arrive at the totals shown in this chart.
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Greenhouse Gases

How to Download Your Data
  1. Go to https://www.epa.gov/ghgreporting/ghg-reporting-program-data-sets
  2. Click the “Data Summary Spreadsheets” link. In the resulting ZIP file, open the spreadsheet, “ghgp_data_by_year.xlsx.” Navigate to the first worksheet, “Direct Emitters.”
  3. Apply a filter to Column K (Primary NAICS Code), displaying only the values for NAICS Codes beginning with 325.
  4. With the filter from Step 3 applied, for each year, 2011 onwards, sum the relevant column of “Total reported direct emissions.” For example, Column T corresponds to 2011, Column S corresponds to 2012, etc.
  5. For 2010 data, open the spreadsheet, “ghgp_data_2010” from the ZIP file. Repeat Steps 3 and 4 in this file.
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Energy Use

How to Download Your Data
  1. Go to https://www.eia.gov/outlooks/aeo/archive.php
  2. This will bring you to the Annual Energy Outlook (AEO) Products – Archive which contains links to historical data sets.
  3. Under “Supplement Tables,” click on the HTML link for data by year. For each year shown in the Snapshot, users should select the AEO report published the following year for data. For example, for energy use data from 2020, the user should use the 2020 data published in the 2021 Annual Energy Outlook.
  4. Select the relevant table or table range, (i.e., Table 27. Bulk Chemical Industry Energy Consumption or alternatively, Tables 21-30) and click on the XLS option.
  5. For years available, copy the value for “Total” under “Energy Consumption”
  6. For other years, it will be necessary to repeat the process above.
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Hazardous Waste Generation

How to Download Your Data
  1. Go to https://rcrapublic.epa.gov/rcra-hwip/trends-and-analysis/details/7
  2. Repeat the following steps for each reporting cycle. You will be able to access data for one year at a time but multiple NAICS codes. For each reporting cycle, to recreate the values shown in this chart:
    1. Select a data year in the “Report Cycle” box and click on the blue “Update filter” box.
    2. Click on the “…” menu option in the upper right hand corner of the Generator List Box.
    3. Click on “Download results,” chose the file format you want and save the file on your computer.
    4. Open the file and create a filter the records in the “naics_code” column.
    5. Sort or filter the “naics_code” column for the following NAICS codes:
      • 32511 PETROCHEMICAL MANUFACTURING
      • 325110 PETROCHEMICAL MANUFACTURING
      • 32512 INDUSTRIAL GAS MANUFACTURING
      • 325120 INDUSTRIAL GAS MANUFACTURING
      • 32513 SYNTHETIC DYE AND PIGMENT MANUFACTURING
      • 325130 SYNTHETIC DYE AND PIGMENT MANUFACTURING
      • 32518 OTHER BASIC INORGANIC CHEMICAL MANUFACTURING
      • 325180 OTHER BASIC INORGANIC CHEMICAL MANUFACTURING
      • 32519 OTHER BASIC ORGANIC CHEMICAL MANUFACTURING
      • 325193 ETHYL ALCOHOL MANUFACTURING
      • 325194 CYCLIC CRUDE, INTERMEDIATE, AND GUM AND WOOD CHEMICAL MANUFACTURING
      • 325199 ALL OTHER BASIC ORGANIC CHEMICAL MANUFACTURING
      • 32521 RESIN AND SYNTHETIC RUBBER MANUFACTURING
      • 325211 PLASTICS MATERIAL AND RESIN MANUFACTURING
      • 325212 SYNTHETIC RUBBER MANUFACTURING
      • 32522 ARTIFICIAL AND SYNTHETIC FIBERS AND FILAMENTS MANUFACTURING
      • 325220 ARTIFICIAL AND SYNTHETIC FIBERS AND FILAMENTS MANUFACTURING
      • 32531 FERTILIZER AND COMPOST MANUFACTURING
      • 325311 NITROGENOUS FERTILIZER MANUFACTURING
      • 325312 PHOSPHATIC FERTILIZER MANUFACTURING
      • 325314 FERTILIZER (MIXING ONLY) MANUFACTURING
      • 32532 PESTICIDE AND OTHER AGRICULTURAL CHEMICAL MANUFACTURING
      • 325320 PESTICIDE AND OTHER AGRICULTURAL CHEMICAL MANUFACTURING
      • 3254 PHARMACEUTICAL AND MEDICINE MANUFACTURING
      • 32541 PHARMACEUTICAL AND MEDICINE MANUFACTURING
      • 325411 MEDICINAL AND BOTANICAL MANUFACTURING
      • 325412 PHARMACEUTICAL PREPARATION MANUFACTURING
      • 325413 IN-VITRO DIAGNOSTIC SUBSTANCE MANUFACTURING
      • 325414 BIOLOGICAL PRODUCT (EXCEPT DIAGNOSTIC) MANUFACTURING
      • 32551 PAINT AND COATING MANUFACTURING
      • 325510 PAINT AND COATING MANUFACTURING
      • 32552 ADHESIVE MANUFACTURING
      • 325520 ADHESIVE MANUFACTURING
  3. Reporting cycles: Select each year individually that is presented on the Sector Snapshots graphic.
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Production-Related Waste Managed

How to Download Your Data
  1. Go to https://www.epa.gov/enviro/tri-ez-search.
  2. Scroll down and click on “Flat (Denormalized) Form R – A flat view of the TRI database that contains a majority of the available TRI information.
  3. Select the following variables from the list of data elements provided.
    1. Reporting Year
    2. In the row immediately below Total Production Related Waste check the box above SUM
    3. Primary NAICS Code
  4. Scroll to the bottom of the page and click on “STEP 3: Enter Search Criteria”
  5. On the next page:
    1. For Reporting Year – switch Operator Definition to “Between.” In the Search Value field, enter the first year shown in the Sector Snapshots chart, followed by “AND”, and the last year shown in the Sector Snapshots chart. For example, if the first year is 1996 and the last year is 2022, enter “1996 AND 2022” in the Search Value field.
    2. For Primary NAICS Code – switch Operator to “Beginning with,” and enter 325 (Chemicals) under Search Value. Then check the last box to the right under “Where Only.”
    3. Click on “Search database” or “Output to CSV File”
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Recycling of Waste Chemicals

How to Download Your Data
  1. Go to https://www.epa.gov/enviro/tri-ez-search
  2. Scroll down and click on “Flat (Denormalized) Form R – A flat view of the TRI database that contains a majority of the available TRI information.
  3. Select the following variables from the list of data elements provided.
    1. Reporting Year
    2. In the row immediately below Recycling Onsite Current Year Quantity check the box above SUM
    3. Primary NAICS Code
  4. Scroll to the bottom of the page and click on “STEP 3: Enter Search Criteria”
  5. On the next page:
    1. For Reporting Year – switch Operator Definition to “Between.” In the Search Value field, enter the first year shown in the Sector Snapshots chart, followed by “AND”, and the last year shown in the Sector Snapshots chart. For example, if the first year is 1996 and the last year is 2022, enter “1996 AND 2022” in the Search Value field.
    2. For Primary NAICS Code – switch Operator to “Beginning with,” and enter 325 (Chemicals) under Search Value. Then check the last box to the right under “Where Only.”
    3. Click on “Search database” or “Output to CSV File”
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Releases to Land

How to Download Your Data
  1. Go to https://www.epa.gov/enviro/tri-ez-search.
  2. Scroll down and click on “Flat (Denormalized) Form R – A flat view of the TRI database that contains a majority of the available TRI information.
  3. Select the following variables from the list of data elements provided.
    • Reporting Year
    • In the row immediately below Land Total Release check the box above SUM
    • Primary NAICS Code
  4. Scroll to the bottom of the page and click on “STEP 3: Enter Search Criteria”
  5. On the next page:
    1. For Reporting Year – switch Operator Definition to “Between.” In the Search Value field, enter the first year shown in the Sector Snapshots chart, followed by “AND”, and the last year shown in the Sector Snapshots chart. For example, if the first year is 1996 and the last year is 2022, enter “1996 AND 2022” in the Search Value field.
    2. For Primary NAICS Code – switch Operator to “Beginning with,” and enter 325 (Chemicals) under Search Value. Then check the last box to the right under “Where Only.”
    3. Click on “Search database” or “Output to CSV File”
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Water Discharges

How to Download Your Data
  1. Go to https://www.epa.gov/enviro/tri-ez-search.
  2. Scroll down and click on "Flat (Denormalized) Form R – A flat view of the TRI database that contains a majority of the available TRI information."
  3. Select the following variables from the list of data elements provided.
    • Reporting Year
    • In the row immediately below Water Total Release check the box above SUM
    • Primary NAICS Code
  4. Scroll to the bottom of the page and click on “STEP 3: Enter Search Criteria”
  5. On the next page:
    1. For Reporting Year – switch Operator Definition to “Between.” In the Search Value field, enter the first year shown in the Sector Snapshots chart, followed by “AND”, and the last year shown in the Sector Snapshots chart. For example, if the first year is 1996 and the last year is 2022, enter “1996 AND 2022” in the Search Value field.
    2. For Primary NAICS Code – switch Operator to “Beginning with,” and enter 325 (Chemicals) under Search Value. Then check the last box to the right under “Where Only.”
    3. Click on “Search database” or “Output to CSV File”
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Dollar Value of Gross Output

How to Download Your Data
  1. Go to GDP by Industry | U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA)
  2. Click on Underlying Detail Tables, Annual, 1997-2022
  3. Select “Gross Output by Industry.”
  4. Select “U.Gross Output by Industry (A).” Then on the next page, click “Next Step.” The resulting data table will then load.
  5. Select “Modify” in the upper-right-hand corner of the table. In the resulting window:
    1. Set the scale as “Billions”
    2. Set the start year as “1997-A”
    3. Set the end year as the last year presented in the graphic.
    4. In the code list, select only “(325) Chemical products.” Do not select any other item in this menu, doing so may double count.
    5. Click “Refresh Table”
  6. Row 1 of the resulting table, labeled “Chemical products” provides the corresponding data shown in this chart for each year.
  7. (Optional) Download the dataset in XLS, CSV, or PDF format.
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Employment

How to Download Your Data

Note: The data are available in a comma-delimited text format that must be imported into a software package that will allow you to analyze the file.

  1. Go to https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/cbp/data/datasets.html
  2. Click on any link labeled “County Business Patterns: YEAR.” On the resulting page, click the “Complete U.S. File” link and download the corresponding file. Repeat this process for each year corresponding to years presented in the graphic.
  3. Open each file in a software package of your choice that can process comma-delimited text files. Repeat the steps below for each file.
  4. For entities with suppressed data, the Census Bureau replaces all employment values with zeroes and this underestimates the total number of employees in each sector. Using your software package, replace the suppression flags with the midpoint of the Data Suppression Flag employment ranges per the table below.
    Empflag Data Suppression Flag Employment Size Class Midpoint
    Min Max
    A 0 19 10
    B 20 99 60
    C 100 249 175
    E 250 499 375
    F 500 999 750
    G 1000 2,499 1,750
    H 2,500 4,999 3,750
    I 5000 9,999 7,500
    J 10,000 24,999 17,500
    K 25,000 49,999 37,500
    L 50,000 99,999 75,000
    M 100,000 >100,000 100,000
  5. In your software package, filter the data for NAICS codes that begin with 365.
  6. With the filter in place, aggregate the “emp” column across all records.
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Constant Dollar Output Value (2017)

How to Download Your Data
  1. The constant dollar output metric uses inflation-adjusted economic output values. This contrasts with the dollar value of gross output (nominal output), which does not account for inflation.
  2. The GDP Implicit Price Deflator (IPD) is used to adjust the dollar value of gross output for inflation.
  3. The IPD is calculated by dividing nominal economic output (i.e., GDP) by constant dollar economic output and reflects the impact of prices on the measure of economic output. It is similar to the widely reported Consumer Price Index, but the IPD is more commonly used to reflect price increases facing businesses as well as consumers. The IPD is specified in the RCRA regulations.
  4. The IPD is indexed to a base year. When this chart was created, the IPD used 2017 as the base year (2017 IDP = 100). For each annual economic output data element in the Sector Snapshot data, nominal output values are converted to constant dollar output values using this formula: Constant Dollar Output Value = Nominal Output Value (as currently displayed in Sector Snapshots) / [(IPD for current year) / (IPD for base year)]
  5. IPD data is sourced from the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis (FRED) at https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/GDPDEF#.
  6. The constant dollar output values are also used to calculate intensity ratios for each environmental performance indicator.
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