The origin of the ‘8 million tonnes into the ocean’ figure
Jambeck’s landmark 2015 estimate found 4.8–12.7 million tonnes of land-based plastic entered the ocean in 2010; it is often wrongly quoted as a current…
Scientists
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Uncollected waste and open burning, not littering, drive plastic pollution
A Nature study finds 52 million tonnes of plastic entered the environment in 2020, most of it burned or dumped where rubbish collection does…
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Land-to-sea plastic flows are 4–9 times higher than the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) assumes
Independent modelling finds far more plastic reaches the sea than OECD scenarios assume, and microplastic levels stay high to 2060 even under ambitious policy.