Plastic —
What We Know
We know that a lot of plastic is consumed worldwide and with this comes negatives impacts on the environment, but here are a few facts to put things into perspective.
Plastic Consumption.
300 million tonnes of plastic waste is produced annually, that's almost the weight of the entire human population!
Plastic Bottle Consumption.
Over 1 million single-use plastic bottles are purchased around the world every minute, that's over 526 billion bottles every year!
Recycling.
Only around 9% of plastic made has ever been recycled, while around 79% has been discarded in landfills or the natural environment, affecting our precious wildlife, land and oceans.
Worldwide, 73 percent of beach litter is plastic: filters from cigarette butts, bottles, bottle caps, food wrappers, grocery bags, and polystyrene containers.
Degradation.
It can take over 450 years for plastic to degrade, and most of it still exists is some form.
Our Oceans.
An unimaginable 8 million tonnes of plastic ends up in the world's oceans every year, and if current trends continue, our oceans could contain more plastic than fish by 2050.