tonnes of buoyant plastic entering the ocean each year (measured)
The lowest and most direct estimate: about 0.5 million tonnes of floating plastic a year, feeding a 3.2-million-tonne ocean stock that persists for decades.
Global
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tonnes of plastic leaked to the ocean in 2019 (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development scope)
The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)’s narrower estimate: 22 million tonnes leaked to the environment, 6.1 million to water and 1.7 million…
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tonnes of plastic that entered the ocean in 2010 (the classic figure)
The origin of ‘a garbage truck a minute’ (about 15 tonnes per minute). It describes 2010 and land-based sources only.
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tonnes of plastic entering rivers, lakes and seas in 2016
Recommended headline range for plastic entering water: 19–23 million tonnes a year, or 36–44 tonnes every minute.
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tonnes of single-use plastic waste in 2021
Single-use plastic waste grew from 133 to 139 million tonnes between 2019 and 2021 despite bans; about 4.4 tonnes every second.
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tonnes of plastic waste generated in 2019
Roughly 11 tonnes of plastic becomes waste every second. Only 9% of it is recycled.
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tonnes of plastic used worldwide in 2019
The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)’s reference figure for global plastics use, up from 2 million tonnes in 1950.
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of seabirds have eaten plastic
Modelling estimates 90% of individual seabirds have ingested plastic; 99% of species will be affected by 2050.
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lifetime cost to society of the plastic made in 2019
World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) and Dalberg put the lifetime cost of one year’s plastic at US$3.7 trillion, more than India’s gross domestic…
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a year in plastics-related health damage
The Lancet Countdown estimates health-related economic losses from plastics at more than US$1.5 trillion every year.