Ten statistics on global plastic addiction and its consequences

May 31, 2023

The UN's annual World Environment Day on Monday comes days after negotiations on an international treaty against plastic pollution concluded Friday in Paris with 170 nations agreeing to produce a first draft of an accord by November. FRANCE 24 takes a look at the scale of the problem and its implications through 10 crucial statistics.

Issued on: 05/06/2023 - 06:37

This is the number of tonnes of plastic produced globally each year, according to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). From 2000 to 2019, this figure more than doubled, a trend that shows no sign of slowing down. If no measures are taken, global production will nearly triple by 2060, reaching 1,231 million tonnes of plastic.

>> Read more : Plastic recycling in focus as countries meet in Paris for treaty talks

The maximum lifespan of nearly two-thirds of the plastics produced each year, according to the OECD. Predominantly used for food packaging (31 percent) and textiles and consumer goods (20 percent), these plastics often end up as waste after one or just a few uses.

This is the number of tonnes of plastic waste produced worldwide in 2019. The proportion of waste varies dramatically across different countries and groupings: 21 percent comes from the United States and 28 percent comes from other OECD member states while 19 percent comes from China and 5 percent from India. The remaining 27 percent comes from the rest of the world.

>> Read more : Tackling plastic pollution: ‘We can't recycle our way out of this’

The average amount of plastic waste produced per person per year in France, according to Eurostat, is slightly above the European average (35kg). This figure is equivalent to 1,070 bottles with a capacity of 500ml. In total, about 30 million tonnes of plastic waste are produced annually in the EU.

The percentage of plastic waste recycled globally in 2019, according to the OECD. Half of the remaining plastic waste goes to landfill sites, 19 percent is incinerated, and 22 percent is either discarded in nature or burned in open air. Overall, 22 million plastic waste items end up discarded in nature each year.

The contribution of plastics to global greenhouse gas emissions in 2019, according to the OECD. In addition to generating pollution, plastics contribute significantly to climate change. Most of these emissions come from the production and processing of fossil fuels, as over 99 percent of plastics are derived from oil, gas and coal. If their usage continues to increase as projected, plastics-related emissions will account for 15 percent of the global carbon budget by 2050, according to estimates by Human Rights Watch.

>> Read more : Plastic recycling in focus as countries meet in Paris for treaty talks

The estimated number of people in developing countries who die annually from illnesses related to poor waste management, particularly from toxic fumes emitted from burning plastic waste, according to a study by the UK-based Christian aid agency Tearfund.

The quantity of plastic waste, in tonnes, that has accumulated in aquatic environments between 1970 and 2019, according to the OECD – 109 million tonnes in rivers and lakes and 30 million tonnes in the oceans. It is estimated that the equivalent of a garbage truck's worth of plastic ends up in the ocean every minute.

The number of marine mammals that die each year from ingesting plastic or becoming entangled in debris, according to various studies. Besides nets and plastic bags, the ocean teems with microplastics – tiny fragments less than 5mm in diameter resulting from the degradation of bags, bottles, tires, cigarette butts, fibers of clothing and more. Blue whales ingest 10 million of microplastics per day, according to a study published in Nature in 2022.

The number of grams of plastic humans ingest each week, equivalent to a credit card, according to an Australian study published in 2019.

(This is a translation of the original in French.)

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