The atlas highlights the scale of the crisis, and the global impacts of plastic production, consumption and disposal on other key global challenges such as human health and climate change. A big part of the problem: pollution. Plastic Water Bottle Pollution Facts & Statistics 2020 Discover how many plastic bottles are used each year in the world, ... 480 billion plastic bottles were bought across the world during 2019; By 2021, the consumption of plastic bottles is set to hit half a trillion every year. National Geographic. Over the past 50 years, world plastic production has doubled. Key plastic pollution facts you need to know. Fact 6 : 14 billion pounds of garbage mostly plastic, is dumped into the ocean every year. [2] ; The first synthetic plastic — Bakelite — was produced in 1907, marking the beginning of the global plastics industry. Aug 26, 2019 - Explore Ron J's board "plastic pollution facts" on Pinterest. [4] 5. We need urgent and drastic reductions in plastic production and consumption and regulation at the local, national and global level that tackle plastic pollution at the source. Tiny plastic beads used in hundreds of toiletries like facial scrubs and toothpastes have even been found in our Great Lakes—the largest group of freshwater lakes in the world! INTERESTING FACT Current recycling of plastic bottles generally results in the ‘down-cycling’ of the material into a product that can not easily be recycled again. We have also produced an FAQs on Plastics page which attempts to answer additional common questions on the topic. This is our main data entry on plastics, with a particular focus on its pollution of the environment. People can argue all they want over politics, climate change and Game of Thrones, but one thing no one is arguing over is the plastic polluting our life-giving oceans—at least not after they read these facts. According to the UN, about 8m tonnes of plastic waste is dumped in the seas annually. Sea birds and larger marine creatures become entangled in plastic debris, and larger pieces of plastic damage the digestive systems of whales and dolphins. Our planet is drowning in plastic pollution. It’s no secret that plastic waste finds its way into our oceans, but how much, and what damage does it really cause? Parker, Laura. Plastic pollution is a global problem that is growing exponentially due to both an increase in consumerism and an increase in the number of plastics used to manufacture the things we use on a daily basis. The Plastic Atlas has the hard facts, data and figures to prove that the story of plastic that industry is telling us is a myth. Plastic pollution is the second biggest threat to the future of our coral reefs after climate change, with more than a third of coral reefs in the Asia-Pacific region littered with plastic. The following 9 facts shed light on how single-use plastic is a large problem that most people are a part of. 10 December 2015. Turtles and seabirds become ensnared in discarded plastics, and tiny microplastics are eaten by pretty much everything. Useful and convenient, it’s also a massive pollution problem, especially in our oceans. Plastic pollution has been an ongoing problem but this epidemic now comes with various solid and even lucrative solutions. About 8.3 billion tonnes of plastic has been produced since the 1950s – the weight of roughly a billion elephants or 47 million blue whales. Fact 4 : Water pollution kills around 10,000 people around the world every day – that’s 3.6 million people every year… Fact 5 : At least 320 million people in China do not have access to clean drinking water. See more ideas about Plastic pollution, Save earth, Pollution. Plastic is everywhere. Packaging is the largest end-use market segment accounting for just over 40% of total plastic usage. You might be surprised by the facts. The persistence of plastics in the environment is, unfortunately here to stay. A Whopping 91% of Plastic Isn’t Recycled. It’s dumped, pumped, spilled, leaked and even washed out with our laundry. Even though most people are fully aware of the fact that planet Earth is full of polluted ocean water, objectively few people understand the specifics of the pollution problem society is currently facing. June 2014. Here are several interesting facts about water pollution in 2018 & 2019. ... 2019, on how they would comply with the Plastic Waste Management Rules of 2016. The average person eats 70,000 microplastics each year. Plastics - the Facts 2019 FINAL web version Plastics the facts2019 14102019.pdf (4,803.64 KB) An analysis of European plastics production, demand and waste data. Giant garbage patches (one twice the size of Texas) can be found floating around in the oceans. Discover : Foreword by Harvey V. Fineberg , President of the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, Former President of the US National Academy of Medicine China is home to worse pollution than anywhere else on planet Earth ; A slide-deck summary of global plastics is available here. But there's also plenty more plastic garbage. 19 July 2017. Read the full article about plastic pollution facts by Seneo Mwamba at Global Citizen. The average time that a plastic bag is used for is … 12 minutes. US Environmental Protection Agency. Plastic Pollution and Climate Change. [1] Only about 9% of this plastic has been recycled, 12% has been burned and the remaining 79% has ended up in landfills or the environment. The plastic processing industry is estimated to grow to 22 MT per year by 2020, as per a FICCI study. Plastic in the North Sea is 10 times worse than at the start of the ... 16 April 2019 • 4:43pm. Plastic is a valuable resource in many ways, but plastic pollution is an unnecessary and unsustainable waste of that resource. Along with larger mammals even the tiniest organisms can be impacted by toxic microplastics which in … Share. Annually approximately 500 billion plastic bags are used worldwide. Plastic is killing more than 1.1 million seabirds and animals every year. Once perceived as a symbol of modernity, plastics have been the subject of a rapid and profound global challenge in recent years, particularly because of ocean pollution. Waters, Shannon. We’re here to help! Municipal Solid Waste Landfills. The amount of plastic that's been dumped into the ocean has been increasing. What is the current state of the plastic pollution crisis? Plastic pollution is a devastating problem for the world’s oceans and marine life. And all this plastic pollution is not only a problem for the earth, it's bad for our health. Follow. Plastic pollution facts show it is ridding the world of m arine species, with over 700 on the edge of extinction, including Hawaiian monk seals and loggerhead sea turtles. JUST WATCHED The plastic river ... Plastics are so ubiquitous in our lives that there are countless other sources of plastic pollution. Many of these items are single-use items, which are used once and then tossed in the trash. Ocean pollution: 11 facts you need to know The ocean is the origin and the engine of all life on this planet — and it is under threat. Plastic Pollution Causes, Facts & Figures . While plastic has many valuable uses, we have become addicted to single-use or disposable plastic — with severe environmental consequences. So how does trash get into the ocean? Eight million tons in plastic trash and waste makes its ways into the oceans annually. It is estimated that 1.1 to 8.8 million tonnes of plastic waste enters the ocean from coastal communities each year. To learn more about the threat and impact of plastic pollution and get tips to reduce your plastic consumption, download our Plastic Pollution Primer and Toolkit today! Our materials are produced by scientific researchers and build on our 10 years expertise as leaders in plastic and the oceans. 4. ... 2019 Ocean Conservation. That’s enough to cover every foot of coastline around the world with five full rubbish bags of plastic every year. Plastic Pollution Coalition. Plastic Pollution Facts and Figures (English) Rise Above Plastics: Nombres et faits (Français) As new research on the production, life cycle, and impacts of plastic debris become available, Surfrider Foundation continues to assemble this list of credible plastic pollution statistics and figures, sourced mainly from peer-reviewed, published studies. The Plastic Atlas contains more than 49 detailed infographics covering a broad range of topics regarding the plastic pollution crisis looking along the entire value chain of plastic. This page's URL copied to clipboard! Fact 7 : The Ganges river in India is one of the most polluted in the world. Philippines’ plastic pollution epidemic The United Nations called this problem ’one of the great environmental challenges of all time’. 15 Horrific Facts About Plastic Pollution in the Ocean. Millions of tons of plastic enter the ... June 25, 2019 . A new report finds that the amount of plastic pollution we create is set to double by 2030, and recommends a global treaty to address our plastic waste "crisis". This World Environment Day, it’s time for a change. It is estimated that of the 1.5 million Laysan Albatrosses which inhabit Midway, all of them have plastic in their digestive system; for one third of the chicks, the plastic blockage is deadly, coining Midway Atoll as “albatross graveyards” by five media artists, led by photographer Chris Jordan, who recently filmed and photographed the catastrophic effects of the plastic pollution there. More than one million bags are used every minute. Understanding plastic pollution can feel overwhelming. Sure, we all know there's always more fish in the sea. Single-use plastic water bottles are a major source of pollution, clog landfills and require large amounts of energy and water to make and transport. 18 billion pounds of plastic waste ends up in our oceans each year. Here are some troubling facts about the pollution crisis plaguing our oceans. Plastic pollution can afflict land, waterways and oceans. Here are some critical facts that should make you reconsider using plastics. Plastic pollution is very real and single-use plastics are small but have a large impact.