Waste plastic includes any plastic that is no longer in use.
This could include anything from the plastic grocery bags and bottles that we recycle at home, to old plastic radios, pipes, furniture, phones, and vinyl siding.
- In the last 70 years we have produced 8.3 billion metric tons of virgin plastics.
- Less than 30% of the plastic produced remains in use.
- 76% percent of plastic (6.3 billion metric tons) has become plastic waste.
- Only 9% of plastic waste has been recycled.
- If present trends continue, by 2050, there will be 12 billion metric tons of plastic in landfills. That amount is 35,000 times as heavy as the Empire State Building.
Plastic on Land
- Plastic in landfills can leak harmful chemicals into the soil. These can seep into the groundwater, polluting it for wildlife and humans.
- Plastic particles are a concern, because they can adsorb PCBs and they contain high concentrations of bacteria.
- Some types of plastics release methane as they break down. This pollutes the air and can be a potential fire hazard.
Plastic at Sea
- Between 93 and 236 thousand metric tons of plastic are estimated to be floating on the surface of the world’s oceans.
- Estimates indicate that this floating plastic may account for only 1% of the plastic that enters the oceans. Plastics with higher densities than seawater sink, thus even more plastic can be found underwater or washed up on beaches.
- 8 million more metric tons of plastic make their way into the water each year.
- By 2050 there will be so much plastic in the ocean that it will weigh more than all of the ocean’s fish.
- Some estimates suggest that as many as 100 million marine animals die annually due to the effects of plastic debris.