Plastic pollution: accumulation of plastic in the Earth's environment

What are the problems caused by plastic pollution?

• Just 9% of the plastic produced since the 1950s has been recycled

• Plastic pollution affects human and animal health

• Plastic pollution contributes to climate change

• The average American consumes 220 pounds of plastic annually -- for comparison, the average Asian consumes 44 pounds

• Increased plastic usage creates more plastic production and carbon emissions

• Littered plastic collects in gyres in the ocean -- marine animals can get entangled within them, can ingest them, or can collide with them

• More than 300 million tons of plastic are made every 12 months.

• Around eight million pieces of plastic debris reach marine environments every day.

• About 269,000 tons of plastic waste are floating on the surface of the ocean.

• Global demand for plastic is expected to increase by 22% over the next 5 years

Carbon emissions also result from plastic production

How do carbon emissions come from plastic production (and plastic pollution)?

• The extraction and distillation of plastic resins from petroleum emits greenhouse gasses.

• The processes required to form plastic resins into products and transport them also releases carbon dioxide

• Even after their disposal, plastic can contribute to emissions as the processes of dumping, recycling, and composting also release carbon dioxide.

• Huge amounts of discarded plastic gets incinerated, which releases even more carbon emissions

• 56 billion tons of carbon is projected to be released from plastic production and incineration by 2050 - 50 times the yearly emissions of all US coal power plants

• To worsen things, plastic production is expected to quadruple by 2050

• The carbon dioxide emissions from plastic in 2015 alone added up to almost 1.8 billion metric tons

• One 500 milliliter plastic water bottle contributes to 83.8 grams (nearly 3 ounces) of carbon emissions

• Studies also show that plastic pollution in oceans reduces the ocean's ability to absorb greenhouse gasses, which speeds up the effects of climate change

What can you do?

Plastic production rises in response to the increasing levels of plastic consumption. Plastic consumption starts with you. By reducing your plastic consumption rates, you will be able to lessen your contribution to plastic pollution and the emissions which result from plastic production. To find out how our website can help you do precisely that, check out our solution page!