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Plastics Fact Sheet

Approximately 350 million tonnes of plastic are produced each year, with 91% not being recycled. This plastic waste accumulates in oceans, waterways and on land, damaging ecosystems and killing many species. By 2050, it is predicted that the weight of plastic in the oceans will exceed the weight of all fish. Microplastics from clothing and other sources also contaminate soil and waterways.

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Татьяна Кучеренко
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73 views

Plastics Fact Sheet

Approximately 350 million tonnes of plastic are produced each year, with 91% not being recycled. This plastic waste accumulates in oceans, waterways and on land, damaging ecosystems and killing many species. By 2050, it is predicted that the weight of plastic in the oceans will exceed the weight of all fish. Microplastics from clothing and other sources also contaminate soil and waterways.

Uploaded by

Татьяна Кучеренко
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Plastic Fact Sheet

Approximately 350 million tonnes of plastic are produced globally each year, 91% of which
are not recycled.
Plastic waste is accumulating in oceans, waterways and on land; damaging ecosystems and
habitats as well as killing marine and land species.

Disposable Cups Plastic Bottles Bubble Wrap

In the UK alone, 2.5 Globally, 1.2 million plastic Approximately 240,000


billion non-recyclable bottles are sold every miles are used each year
cups are thrown away minute. It can take at least globally - that would
each year. 450 years for a plastic bottle reach from Earth to the
to degrade completely. Moon.

Plastic Bags Cigarette Butts

Plastic has become a


widely used material and
many people use plastic
every day.
Each year, 5 trillion 4.5 trillion are discarded
plastic bags are used worldwide every year.
around the world.

Plastic Straws Plastic Packaging

Single-use plastic straws were banned In 2017, around 132 million tonnes
in the UK in 2021. They are still available of single-use plastic packaging was
in other countries - 500 million are used used. This tripled during the COVID-19
every day in America. pandemic, largely due to the increase in
packaging used for takeaway food and
online shopping.

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Plastic Fact Sheet
Oceans
At least 12 million tonnes of plastic end up in the ocean every year. This waste does not
disappear, it accumulates and the total amount in the ocean is increasing by the second.
Statistics indicate that there are more tiny pieces of microplastic in the ocean than there are
stars in the Milky Way. By 2050, it is predicted that the weight of the plastic in the ocean will
be greater than the weight of all the fish.
Due to the tides and currents in the oceans, there are five large areas in the world where
plastic naturally accumulates. One of these areas called the ‘Great Pacific Garbage Patch’, is
20 million square kilometres in size - 82.5 times the size of the UK.

Microplastics
In landfill, plastics disintegrate and break into tiny microplastics (smaller than 5mm) that
contaminate soil and waterways. Tiny plastic particles from items such as water bottles,
fibres from clothing and microbeads from toiletries make their way into the water system.
For example, one fleece jacket sheds around 250,000 plastic microfibres every time it
is washed. Microfibres from washing clothes and materials make up 85% of the human
material found along the world’s shorelines.
When eaten, microplastics can kill animals, birds, marine mammals and fish. According to
some sources, 1 million marine organisms are killed (by suffocation or poisoning) by plastics
each year. Studies have found microplastics in foods such as tea, seafood, rice, honey and
vegetables. Microplastic contamination has been found in 83% of tap water samples tested
around the world and 93% of bottled water. Currently, there are no regulatory limits to the
levels of microplastics allowed in bottled drinking water for it to be deemed safe for human
consumption.

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