350 Million Tonnes Of Plastic Waste
Globally, human produces around 350 million tonnes of plastic waste per year. Among them, 82 million tonnes are not recycled or incinerated.
The problem is that 19 million tonnes are leaked to the environment, especially, the terrestrial environment and aquatic environment.
Ultimately, around 0.5% of plastic waste ends up in the ocean and it acts as a major threat to the lives of marine life.
Global Plastic Leakage Will Be Doubled by 2060
Meanwhile, the environmental impact of this relentless increase in production has become much more severe. In 2019 alone, approximately 22 million tonnes of plastic found its way into the natural environment. This is the figure that is projected to double by 2060, according to OECD predictions.
This rampant mismanagement of plastic waste leads to significant marine pollution, disrupting aquatic habitats and endangering wildlife. Plastics that end up in the ocean can take centuries to degrade, being broken down into microplastics that infiltrate marine food chains and eventually human diets. Greenhouse gas(GHC) emissions from the lifecycles of plastics also pose a considerable environmental challenge. According to 2019 statistics from OECD, the GHC emissions amounted to 1.8 billion tonnes. This figure is also expected to double by 2060. The production, disposal, and degradation of plastics notably contribute to these emissions, exacerbating global warming and climate change.
The Damage On
Aquatic Ecosystem
Every year, about 8 million tonnes of plastics end up sunken into the ocean ecosystem, contributing to the deaths of over 100 million marine animals. This is largely due to the fact that more than 80% of this debris originates from land-based sources.
With such contaminations, a larger and larger number of marine zones are being encroached upon. In fact, according to the data from Condor Ferries, 500 marine locations are now recorded as dead zones globally, currently the size of the United Kingdom’s surface
(245,000 km²).