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.
- Value
- 19–23M
- Unit
- tonnes
- Data year
- 2016
- Trend
- Rising
- Source name
- Borrelle et al. 2020, Science
- Source link
- doi.org/10.1126/science.aba3656
- Confidence
- Evidence: High
- Caveat / scope
- Covers all aquatic environments (rivers, lakes and ocean), not the ocean alone. Where a single number is needed, we use the middle of the range.
- Verified on
- 22 September 2026
Sources last verified 22 September 2026. Page updated 24 September 2026. How we check sources