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Over the next 70 years, however, annual production of plastics has increased nearly 230-fold to 460 million tonnes in 2019. Even just in the last two decades, global plastic production has doubled. The world produces around 350 million tonnes of plastic waste each year. That means 0.5% of plastic waste ends up in the ocean.
- Plastic Waste Generation
Global primary plastic production by industrial sector;...
- Product Lifetime
Global primary plastic waste generation by polymer; Global...
- Global Plastic Waste by Disposal
Global primary plastic waste generation by polymer; Global...
- Cumulative Global Production of Plastics
The data on plastic production from 1950 to 2015 are based...
- Plastic Pollution
How much plastic does the world produce? ... more than...
- Data Explorer
Licenses: All visualizations, data, and articles produced by...
- Primary Plastic Production by Polymer Type
Global primary plastic production by industrial sector;...
- FAQs on Plastics
In 1950 the world produced only 2 million tonnes per year....
- Plastic Waste Generation
Jan 10, 2024 · Global plastics production has doubled since the beginning of the century, to almost 400 million metric tons per year in 2021. While the lifespan of plastic products averages around 10 years ...
Sep 26, 2023 · We estimate that 8300 million metric tons (Mt) as of virgin plastics have been produced to date. As of 2015, approximately 6300 Mt of plastic waste had been generated, around 9% of which had been recycled, 12% was incinerated, and 79% was accumulated in landfills or the natural environment. If current production and waste management trends ...
Jun 28, 2024 · World plastic production surpassed 400 million metric tons in 2022, an annual increase of 1.6 percent. ... This marks an increase of about 1.6 percent from the previous year. Plastics production ...
- How Much Plastic and Waste Do We produce?
- How Much Oil Do We Use to Make Plastic?
- Which Sectors Use The Most Plastic?
- What Are The Environmental Impacts of Landfills?
- What Are The Environmental Impacts of Incineration?
- Recycling, Landfill Or Incineration: Which Should We Choose?
- How Much of Global Plastic Is Recycled?
- Can My Recycling End Up in Landfill?
- Is It Really Helpful to Separate Recycling at Home?
- Are All Types of Plastic Equally Easy to Recycle?
In 1950 the world produced only 2 million tonnes per year. By 2019, annual production had increased nearly 230-fold, reaching 460 million tonnes. Over the period from 1950 to 2019, cumulative productionreached 9.5 billion tonnes of plastic — more than one tonne of plastic for every person alive today. In our entry we provide data visualisations and...
Estimates vary by source, but tend to converge on a range between 4 to 8 percent of global oil consumption. 6 percent of global oil consumption is taken as the mid-range estimate.1
Packaging is the dominant sectoral use of plastics globally accounting for 42 percent (146 million tonnes) in 2016. This was followed by construction with 19 percent (65 million tonnes). You can view plastic use across main sector categories here. Since packaging tends to have a much lower product lifetime than other products (such as construction ...
One option of handling plastic waste is sending it to landfill. Here, it's important to distinguish between the quality/effectiveness of landfills. The modern definition of a landfill is of a disposal site for materials through burial. This is typically the case in high-income countries today where landfills are well-managed and effectively regulat...
Incineration is the burning of a given material — in the case of plastic, this is done at very high temperatures. Incineration is one form of waste management. What are the environmental impacts of incineration? Greenhouse gases: the incineration of plastic produces carbon dioxide (CO2)— a primary driver of global climate change. However, the incin...
There are three key options for handling plastic waste: recycling, incineration or disposal in landfill.14What should we choose? What seems like a simple question can sometimes be complex. Opinions differ depending on what particular environmental, health or economic issues someone cares about. Impact of different methods can be assessed across mul...
We cover this question more fully in our entry on Plastics, found here. In summary, it's estimated that in 2015, around 55 percent of global plastic waste was discarded, 25 percent was incinerated, and 20 percent was recycled. Of the plastic waste produced between 1950 and 2015, only 9 percent was recycled.
Unfortunately, yes. Some plastics intended for recycling end up in landfill. There are several reasons why this can occur: 1. In most countries, some share of plastics intended for recycling are eventually rejected at local or regional waste handling facilities. The most common reason for rejected recycling is the 'contamination' of recycling strea...
Approaches to recycling differ both between and within countries in terms of handling protocol at recycling centres, as well as guidance for disposal of waste at home. Some localities, for example, have a single mixed recycling disposal bin whilst others have separate bins for plastic, paper, and aluminium/cans. It's therefore difficult to provide ...
There are a wide range of polymers used in common plastics. Such materials have different properties and are therefore appropriate for different uses. The structure of the polymers also affect a plastic's recyclability. Some polymers fail and break down under mechanical or thermal stress; this affects their ability to be recycled. In the table we s...
Sep 5, 2024 · India leads the world in generating plastic pollution, producing 10.2 million tons a year (9.3 million metric tons), far more than double the next big-polluting nations, Nigeria and Indonesia.
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How much plastic is produced in 2022?
How much plastic does the world produce? ... more than 200-fold since 1950. In 2019 the world produced more than 450 million tonnes of plastic. ... million tonnes of ...
