51 Disturbing Plastic Waste Statistics

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1. Nearly 300 million tonnes of plastic wastes are produced every year.

2. By 2040, there will be 1.3 billion tonnes of plastic wastes present in the environment.

3. 10 million tons of plastic debris reach marine environments every year.

4. 50% of all plastics produced each year are single-use.

5. 40 billion plastic kitchen utensils are used and discarded each year.

6. About 500 billion single-use plastic bags are used worldwide every year.

7. The number of plastic bottles used worldwide per day exceeds 100 million.

8. Plastic wastage is growing at an annual rate of 9%.

9. Every single person uses more than 700 plastic bags per year.

Intriguing US Plastic Waste Statistics

10. The US is the world’s top generator of plastic waste.

11. More than 60 million plastic water bottles are thrown in the US each day.

12. There are 27 million tons of plastic in landfills in the US.

13. The US generates more than 35 million tons of plastics but recycles just 8.3% of it.

14. The US produced more than 14.5 million tons of plastic containers and packaging.

15. More than 2 million tons of plastic bottles are thrown in US landfills.

16. In 2018, every average individual in the US generated 4.9 pounds of municipal solid waste per day.

Plastic Pollution Statistics: Their Adverse Effects

17.  Australia’s bottled water industry, worth over half a billion dollars, generates more than 60,000 tons of greenhouse gas emissions every year.

18. Being able to last for up to 1,000 years means every plastic bag can kill numerous animals before it finally disappears.

19. Around 70,000 microplastics are consumed by an average person each year.

20. 1 million marine animals die due to plastic pollution every year.

21. On average, there are 325 microplastic particles present in one liter of bottled water.

Some Plastic Waste Facts You May Not Know

22. The average working life of a plastic bag is 15 minutes.

23. In 2018, Collins Dictionary declared “single-use” word of the year.

24. 75% of all plastic produced has become waste.

25. Half of all seabird species ingested sea debris.

26. It takes around 500-1,000 years for plastics to decompose.

27. Unlike traditional plastic bottles that can take up to 1,000 years to biodegrade, edible water containers can harmlessly break down in six weeks. 

28. Plastic bottles are the third most collected plastic trash on beaches in more than 100 counties.

Shocking Plastic Waste in the Ocean Facts & Statistics

29. China, Indonesia, the Philippines, Vietnam, and Sri Lanka together account for about 60% of all the plastic in the ocean.

30. 73% of all litter on beaches worldwide is plastic.

31. There are around 200 million tonnes of plastic waste in the Atlantic Ocean.

32. In the United Kingdom, about 5,000 pieces of plastic waste per mile litter the beach.

33. 1 million seabirds and 100,000 turtles and marine mammals die due to plastic entanglement and ingestion every year.

34. The world’s five ocean gyres are causing millions of garbage pieces (most of which is plastic) to collect in one area due to current circulation.

35. Over 90% of plastics in the oceans are brought by ten rivers alone; 8 are in Asia, and two are in Africa.

36. By 2040, the amount of plastic waste in the ocean will triple.

Plastic Waste Recycling Stats

37. About 91% of plastic is not recycled.

38. 90.5% of plastic waste ever made has never been recycled.

39. Norway has the highest PET recycling rate of 97%.

40. 100% of plastics will be recycled in France by 2025.

41. By 2050, landfill plastic waste will be 35,000x as heavy as the Empire State Building.

42. South Africa has turned nearly 40,000 liters of plastic milk bottles into over 400 meters of roads.

43. At least 1,200 convenience stores in Chile are promoting the use of reusable containers.

44. Germany has the highest recycling rate of about 56%.

45. Only 14% of the world’s plastic waste is recycled.

Worldwide Plastic Waste Statistics & Regulatory Initiatives

46. At least 57 countries have joined the UN Environment Clean Seas campaign since 2017 and pledged to cut down their plastic footprint sooner rather than later.

47. Kenya and some other countries have banned the use of plastics.

48. Carlsberg’s traditional beer holders have become 76% less harmful to the environment after the company bid farewell to plastic multipack rings.

49. Sodexo has stopped using plastic bags and stirrers at its 13,000 locations.

50.  Red Lobster will prevent the use of 150 million plastic straws at its hundreds of restaurants every year beginning in 2020.

51. Disney’s ban on some single-use plastics eliminates the use of 175 million straws and 13 million stirrers at its theme parks and resorts every year.

52. Implementing reusable systems in food ordering services helped reduce utensil use by 88%.

The Bottom Line

Indeed, the word plastic is not dirty but waste instead. Plastics have helped people and the economy in various ways. However, people’s mismanagement of plastic wastes damages the environment, endangers wildlife, and poses threats to human lives.

The eye-opening statistics about plastic food packaging waste, single-use bags, plastic bottles, etc., have been knocking some sense into more and more of us. Beating our plastic addiction will not happen overnight, but we are finally on the road to recovery.