Emb-145 captain reported burning plastic smell during climb in passenger cabin resulting in a return...

Narrative:

Initially upon takeoff we smelt a slight burning plastic smell but it went away and we continued to ZZZ. Approximately 20 miles from ZZZ the smell became strong and did not go away; the flight attendant called and said she and the passengers could smell it as well. We reported the burning plastic smell to ATC and requested expedited vectors to land. They requested souls and fuel onboard and I specified we were not declaring an emergency; but supplied the information. Upon landing the fire trucks followed us to the gate and after the passengers deplaned the fireman did a sweep of the aircraft for any signs of fire. None were found so maintenance was called.identification: a burning plastic/electrical odor became present during flight.cause: I am unaware what the smell was but upon arrival the fire department verified they smelled the burnt electrical/plastic odor as well and it was strongest in the flight deck but could not find anything actually burning.response: we did not don masks as there was no smoke visible so it didn't seem serious enough to require masks but later the flight attendant and I felt a discomfort in our throats possibly from the fumes. If a similar situation happened in the future I would don O2 masks to be on the safer side.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: EMB-145 Captain reported burning plastic smell during climb in passenger cabin resulting in a return to departure airport.

Narrative: Initially upon takeoff we smelt a slight burning plastic smell but it went away and we continued to ZZZ. Approximately 20 miles from ZZZ the smell became strong and did not go away; the FA called and said she and the passengers could smell it as well. We reported the burning plastic smell to ATC and requested expedited vectors to land. They requested souls and fuel onboard and I specified we were not declaring an emergency; but supplied the information. Upon landing the fire trucks followed us to the gate and after the passengers deplaned the fireman did a sweep of the aircraft for any signs of fire. None were found so maintenance was called.Identification: A burning plastic/electrical odor became present during flight.Cause: I am unaware what the smell was but upon arrival the fire department verified they smelled the burnt electrical/plastic odor as well and it was strongest in the flight deck but could not find anything actually burning.Response: We did not don masks as there was no smoke visible so it didn't seem serious enough to require masks but later the FA and I felt a discomfort in our throats possibly from the fumes. If a similar situation happened in the future I would don O2 masks to be on the safer side.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.

Attributes
ACN	1630707
Time
Date	201903
Local Time Of Day	1201-1800
Place
Locale Reference	ZZZ.Airport
State Reference	US
Environment
Light	Daylight
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	EMB ERJ 145 ER/LR
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Flight Phase	Climb
Flight Plan	IFR
Person 1
Function	Captain Pilot Flying Check Pilot
Qualification	Flight Crew Multiengine Flight Crew Instrument Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Experience	Flight Crew Last 90 Days 120 Flight Crew Total 5200 Flight Crew Type 1200
Events
Anomaly	Aircraft Equipment Problem Less Severe Flight Deck / Cabin / Aircraft Event Smoke / Fire / Fumes / Odor

Emb-145 captain reported burning plastic smell during climb in passenger cabin resulting in a return to departure airport.