Plastic pollution facts for kids

Plastic pollution

Plastic pollution affects seas, beaches, rivers and land (clockwise from top left):

• Olive ridley sea turtle entangled in a ghost net in the Maldives
• Plastic pollution of Sharm el-Naga beach, near Safaga, Egypt
• Piles of plastic waste on the government-authorized "garbage island" of Thilafushi, Maldives
• A tributary of the Wouri River in Douala, Cameroon, completely clogged with plastic.

Plastic pollution happens when plastic items and tiny plastic bits, like bottles, bags, and microbeads, build up in Earth's environment. This causes harm to people, animals, and their homes. Plastics are cheap and strong, so they are used for many things. But most plastics do not break down easily in nature. Because of this, huge amounts of plastic waste end up in our environment. This plastic stays in our ecosystems and travels through food webs, affecting everything.

Plastic pollution can be found on land, in waterways, and in oceans. Experts believe that 1.1 to 8.8 million tons of plastic waste enter the ocean from coastal areas every year. By the end of 2013, about 86 million tons of plastic trash were thought to be in the world's oceans. This means about 1.4% of all plastic made from 1950 to 2013 has ended up in the ocean. Global plastic production has grown a lot, from 1.5 million tons in the 1950s to 335 million tons in 2016. Sadly, about 79% of plastic products are not handled well, ending up in landfills or nature.

Some scientists think that by 2050, there could be more plastic in the oceans than fish, by weight. Living things, especially ocean animals, can get hurt. They might get tangled in plastic, eat plastic waste, or be exposed to chemicals in plastics that mess with their bodies. Tiny bits of broken-down plastic can even affect humans. We might consume them directly in tap water or indirectly by eating plants and animals. These chemicals can also disrupt our body's natural systems.

In 2019, 368 million tons of plastic were made worldwide. Most of this (51%) came from Asia, with China being the biggest producer. From the 1950s to 2018, about 6.3 billion tons of plastic were produced. Only about 9% of this was recycled, and 12% was burned. This huge amount of plastic waste causes problems for the environment. For example, studies show that 90% of seabirds have plastic inside them. People are working hard to reduce plastic pollution by using less plastic, cleaning up litter, and recycling more.

As of 2020, the total weight of plastic made is more than the weight of all land and sea animals combined. In May 2019, a change to the Basel Convention helped control the shipping of plastic waste. This was mainly to stop richer countries from sending their plastic waste to poorer countries. Most countries have joined this agreement. On March 2, 2022, 175 countries promised to create a new agreement by the end of 2024 to stop plastic pollution.

The amount of plastic waste increased during the COVID-19 pandemic. This was because more protective gear and packaging were needed. More plastic, especially from medical waste and masks, ended up in the ocean. Some reports suggest that the plastic industry tried to use health worries to make more single-use plastic.

Why Plastic Pollution Happens

The pathway by which plastics enters the world's oceans

It is hard to know exactly how much plastic waste has been made in the last century. One guess is that a billion tons of plastic waste have been thrown away since the 1950s. Other estimates say that humans have made 8.3 billion tons of plastic in total. Out of this, 6.3 billion tons is waste, and only 9% of it gets recycled.

Most of this waste (81%) is made of plastic resins, 13% are plastic fibers, and 32% are plastic additives. In 2018, over 343 million tons of plastic waste were created. A big part of this (90%) was plastic waste from things people used every day, like packaging. The rest was waste from making plastic products, like materials that were not the right color or hardness.

A lot of the plastic waste we see is plastic packaging. In the United States, plastic packaging makes up about 5% of all city waste. This includes plastic bottles, containers, shopping bags, and foam packaging. Plastic waste also comes from farming (like irrigation pipes), building (like pipes and flooring), transport (like worn-out tires), electronics, and healthcare. It is hard to know the exact amounts from each area.

Many studies have tried to figure out how much plastic leaks into the environment. One study found that between 60 and 99 million tons of poorly managed plastic waste were produced in 2015. Other studies estimate that 19–23 million tons of plastic waste entered water systems in 2016. And 9–14 million tons ended up in the oceans that same year.

Even with efforts to reduce plastic waste, the amount leaking into the environment is expected to grow. Models show that without big changes, 23 to 37 million tons of plastic waste could enter the oceans each year by 2040. And 155 to 265 million tons could be released into the environment each year by 2060. This increase would likely happen because more plastic products are being made, and waste management is not improving fast enough. Since plastic waste already harms ecosystems, such a big increase could have terrible results.

The trade of plastic waste has been called a "main cause" of ocean trash. Countries that import plastic waste often cannot process all of it. Because of this, the United Nations has put a ban on trading plastic waste unless it meets certain rules.

Kinds of Plastic Trash

Beach cleanup in Ghana

Plastic pollution comes in three main sizes: micro-, macro-, and mega-plastics. Mega- and micro-plastics are found most often in the Northern Hemisphere, especially near cities and water. Plastic can also be found near some islands because ocean currents carry the trash there. Mega- and macro-plastics are often found in packaging, shoes, and other household items that have fallen off ships or been thrown into landfills. Fishing gear is more common around faraway islands. These sizes can also be called micro-, meso-, and macro-debris.

Plastic bottle stuck on edge of river

Plastic trash is also divided into primary or secondary. Primary plastics are in their original form when found. Examples are bottle caps, cigarette butts, and microbeads. Secondary plastics are smaller pieces that come from larger primary plastics breaking down.

Tiny Plastic Bits (Microdebris)

Microplastics in the surface ocean 1950–2000 and projections beyond, in million metric tonnes

Microdebris are plastic pieces between 2 mm and 5 mm in size. Larger plastic trash can break down into microdebris through wear and tear. Microdebris is often called nurdles. Nurdles are small plastic pellets used to make new plastic items. But they often escape into the environment during production because they are so tiny. They usually end up in the ocean through rivers and streams. Microdebris from cleaning and cosmetic products are also called scrubbers. Because microdebris and scrubbers are so small, animals that filter feed, like some shellfish, often eat them.

Nurdles enter the ocean from spills during transport or from land. The Ocean Conservancy reported that China, Indonesia, Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam dump more plastic into the sea than all other countries combined. About 10% of the plastic in the ocean is nurdles, making them a common type of plastic pollution, along with plastic bags and food containers. These tiny plastics can build up in the oceans. They can also carry harmful chemicals like bisphenol A, polystyrene, DDT, and PCBs, which can cause health problems.

Where Microdebris is Found

A 2004 study found a lot of microdebris on beaches and in waters across Europe, the Americas, Australia, Africa, and Antarctica. Scientists found that plastic pellets were breaking down into even smaller pieces. Some were thinner than human hair. If not eaten, this microdebris floats instead of being absorbed into the ocean. Scientists guess there might be 300,000 plastic items per square kilometer of sea surface. And 100,000 plastic particles per square kilometer on the seafloor. In 2020, scientists estimated that Earth's seafloor holds about 14 million tons of microplastic. This is about double previous estimates.

Bigger Plastic Bits (Macrodebris)

Plastic bags are an example of macrodebris.

Macroplastics at the surface ocean 1950–2000 and projections beyond, in million metric tonnes

Plastic trash is called macrodebris when it is larger than 20 mm. This includes items like plastic grocery bags. Macrodebris is often found in ocean waters and can seriously harm local animals. Fishing nets are a big problem. Even after they are lost or left behind, they keep trapping sea animals and other plastic trash. Eventually, these abandoned nets become too heavy to remove from the water, weighing up to 6 tons.

How Plastic is Made

It is thought that 9.2 billion tons of plastic were made between 1950 and 2017. More than half of this plastic has been produced since 2004. Of all the plastic thrown away so far, only 14% has been burned, and less than 10% has been recycled.

How Plastics Break Down

Average estimated decomposition times of typical marine debris items. Plastic items are shown in blue.

Plastics make up about 10% of all discarded waste. There are many types of plastics, depending on how they are made. Plastics break down much slower in salty water and cold sea temperatures. These things make plastic trash stay in the environment for a long time. Recent studies show that plastics in the ocean might break down faster than once thought. This is due to sun, rain, and other conditions, which release toxic chemicals like bisphenol A. However, because there is so much plastic in the ocean, the overall breakdown has slowed down. The Ocean Conservancy has guessed how long some plastic products take to break down. A foam plastic cup might take 50 years, a plastic drink holder 400 years, a disposable nappy 450 years, and fishing line 600 years.

Pollution from Companies

Single-serve sachets are a major contributor to plastic pollution, especially in developing countries

In 2019, a group called Break Free From Plastic had over 70,000 volunteers in 51 countries collect and identify plastic waste. They found over 59,000 plastic bags, 53,000 sachets, and 29,000 plastic bottles. Almost half of these items could be linked to specific brands. The most common brands were Coca-Cola, Nestlé, and Pepsico. According to Emma Priestland, a campaign coordinator, the only way to solve the problem is to stop making single-use plastic and use reusable products instead.

Coca-Cola said that over 20% of their products come in refillable packaging. Nestlé said that 87% of their packaging can be reused or recycled. They want to make it 100% by 2025 and reduce new plastic use by one-third. Pepsico aims to reduce new plastic in their drinks by 35% by 2025. They also want to expand reuse and refill options, which could prevent 67 billion single-use bottles by 2025.

A 2024 study found that of the branded waste, 11% was from Coca-Cola, 5% from Pepsico, 3% from Nestle, 3% from Danone, and 2% from Altria. In total, 56 companies were responsible for over 50% of the branded items. Another report, The Plastic Waste Makers Index, states that 55% of plastic waste worldwide is created by just 20 companies.

Countries Making and Polluting with Plastic

Share of plastic waste that is inadequately managed

Per capita mismanaged plastic waste (in kilograms per person per day)

How Much Plastic Waste is Made

The United States makes the most plastic waste in the world, about 42 million metric tons each year. On average, each American produces 130.09 kilograms of plastic waste per year. Other wealthy countries, like those in the EU, also make a lot of plastic waste per person. However, some wealthy countries, like Japan, produce much less.

Countries Polluting the Oceans

The United States National Academy of Sciences estimated in 2022 that 8 million metric tons of plastic enter the ocean worldwide each year. A 2021 study estimated that rivers carry between 0.8 and 2.7 million metric tons of plastic into the ocean. The top ten countries for river plastic pollution were: Philippines, India, Malaysia, China, Indonesia, Myanmar, Brazil, Vietnam, Bangladesh, and Thailand.

Countries with Poorly Managed Plastic Waste

In 2018, about 513 million tons of plastic ended up in the oceans each year. A study from 2015 found that 83.1% of this came from 20 countries. China was the biggest, with 27.7% of the world's total poorly managed plastic waste going into the sea. Indonesia was second (10.1%), followed by the Philippines (5.9%), Vietnam (5.8%), and Sri Lanka (5.0%). The United States was twentieth, with 0.9%. All European Union countries combined would rank eighteenth.

In 2020, a study suggested that the U.S. might contribute more to ocean pollution than previously thought. It could be behind Indonesia and India, or even behind many other countries. In 2022, it was estimated that wealthy countries (OECD) contribute only 5% of ocean plastic pollution, while the rest of the world contributes 95%. Since 2016, China stopped importing plastics for recycling. And since 2019, international agreements have limited the export of plastics for recycling.

A 2019 study calculated the poorly managed plastic waste in millions of metric tons per year:

• 52 Mt – Asia
• 17 Mt – Africa
• 7.9 Mt – Latin America & Caribbean
• 3.3 Mt – Europe
• 0.3 Mt – US & Canada
• 0.1 Mt – Oceania (Australia, New Zealand, etc.)

Total Plastic Waste Polluters

About 275 million tons of plastic waste are made each year worldwide. Between 4.8 million and 12.7 million tons are dumped into the sea. About 60% of the plastic waste in the ocean comes from the top five countries: China, Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam. The table below lists the top 20 plastic polluting countries in 2010.

All the European Union countries combined would rank eighteenth on this list.

A 2017 study found that ten rivers (two in Africa and eight in Asia) carry 88–95% of the world's plastic into the sea. The Caribbean Islands are the biggest plastic polluters per person in the world. Trinidad and Tobago produces 1.5 kilograms of waste per person per day. At least 0.19 kg per person per day of their plastic ends up in the ocean. Of the top thirty global polluters per person, ten are from the Caribbean region.

Effects of Plastic Pollution

The amount of plastic trash varies a lot depending on wind, ocean currents, coastlines, cities, and trade routes. Human population in an area also plays a big role. Plastics are more common in closed areas like the Caribbean. Plastic can also carry organisms to new places, which might change the types of living things there. Plastics can also carry harmful chemicals like persistent organic pollutants and heavy metals.

Atlantic Ocean marine plastic on a beach in Tenerife

A man and woman dragging a bag of plastic waste collected from the beach in Ghana

Plastic pollution has greatly harmed our environment. It is widespread, with plastic trash found even on the most remote coasts and in every ocean habitat. This shows how much plastic pollution has changed our oceans and coasts.

In January 2022, scientists said that a "planetary boundary" for pollution, including plastic, has already been crossed. This means we have too much of it. There has been a 50-fold increase in chemicals since 1950, and this is expected to triple by 2050. There are at least 350,000 man-made chemicals in the world. They mostly have "negative effects on planetary health". Plastic alone contains over 10,000 chemicals and causes big problems. Researchers are calling for limits on chemical production and a move to a circular economy, where products are reused and recycled.

About 1.5–4% of all plastic made each year ends up in the oceans. This is mainly due to poor waste management and careless attitudes. When plastic trash breaks down, it forms tiny particles that even small sea animals can eat. This contaminates the food chain. These tiny pieces are impossible to trace or remove from the open ocean. In the ocean, plastic pollution causes animals to get tangled, eat toxic plastics, suffocate, starve, and spread to new places. It also creates new habitats and introduces new species. This harms biodiversity and food webs. It also affects tourism, fishing, shipping, and human health.

Plastic Pollution and Climate Change

A 2019 report called "Plastic and Climate" was published. It said that in 2019, making and burning plastic would release greenhouse gases equal to 850 million tons of carbon dioxide (CO₂). If trends continue, these emissions will grow to 1.34 billion tons by 2030. By 2050, plastic could release 56 billion tons of greenhouse gases. This is as much as 14% of Earth's remaining carbon budget. By 2100, it could be 260 billion tons, more than half the carbon budget. These emissions come from making, transporting, and burning plastic. There are also releases of methane and effects on tiny ocean plants called phytoplankton.

A 2024 article highlighted the growing use of plastics. Global use is expected to reach 1.1 billion metric tons by 2050. The plastic industry's greenhouse gas emissions were 1.8 billion metric tons in 2019. They could go over 2.5 billion metric tons by 2050 if nothing changes.

The United States' plastic emissions are set to rise from 317 million metric tons in 2021 to 401 million by 2025. This is mostly due to how plastic is made and thrown away. Only about 20% of plastic packaging is recycled globally. Most discarded plastics are burned or put in landfills, where they release methane as they break down.

Countries disagree on how to fix the plastic problem. Some suggest national promises, while others, like the European Union, want required limits on plastic production. Recycling is not working well because of low success rates. So, there is a growing push to make less plastic and ban single-use plastics. Some U.S. states are making laws to hold manufacturers responsible for their products' environmental impact.

Effects of Plastic on Land

Plastic pollution on land harms plants and animals, including humans. Estimates suggest there is four to twenty-three times more plastic on land than in the ocean. This means the problem is bigger and more concentrated on land. Poorly managed plastic waste ranges from 60% in East Asia to 1% in North America. It is estimated that 1 million to 1.7 million tons of poorly managed plastic are carried to the ocean each year.

In 2021, a report said that plastic is often used in farming. There is more plastic in the soil than in the oceans. Plastic in the environment harms ecosystems and human health. It also threatens food safety. Chlorinated plastic can release harmful chemicals into the soil. These chemicals can then seep into groundwater or other water sources. This can seriously harm animals that drink the water.

How Plastic Affects Flooding

Volunteers clearing gutters in Ilorin, Nigeria during a volunteer sanitation day. Even when there is adequate infrastructure for sanitation, plastic pollution can prevent drainage and impede sewage flow.

Plastic waste can block storm drains. This can make flood damage worse, especially in cities. A pile-up of plastic trash can raise water levels and increase the risk of city flooding. For example, in Bangkok, flood risk goes up a lot because plastic waste clogs the sewer system.

Plastic in Tap Water

A 2017 study found that 83% of tap water samples worldwide contained plastic pollutants. This was the first study to look at plastic pollution in global drinking water. It showed that tap water in the United States was the most polluted (94% contamination), followed by Lebanon and India. European countries like the United Kingdom, Germany, and France had the lowest rates, but still as high as 72%. This means people might be eating between 3,000 and 4,000 tiny plastic particles from tap water each year. The study found particles larger than 2.5 microns. It is not yet clear if this pollution affects human health.

Plastic in Soil Ecosystems

Poorly managed plastic waste directly or indirectly enters land ecosystems. There has been a big increase in tiny plastic pollution because plastic materials are not handled or thrown away well. Tiny plastics are now found widely in soil. They settle on the surface and eventually go deeper into the soil. These tiny plastics then get into plants and animals.

Wastewater and sludge from treatment plants contain a lot of plastics. These plants do not have a way to remove tiny plastics. So, plastics are transferred to water and soil when wastewater and sludge are used on land for farming. Researchers have found tiny plastic fibers released when fleece and other polyester clothes are washed. These fibers can go through wastewater to land, polluting the soil.

More plastic and tiny plastic pollution in soils can harm plants and tiny living things in the soil. This can then affect how fertile the soil is. Tiny plastics affect soil ecosystems that are important for plant growth. Plants are vital for the environment, so plastics are damaging to them and the organisms living in these ecosystems.

Tiny plastics change the physical properties of soil, which affects its quality. This impacts soil life, biodiversity, and plant health. Tiny plastics in the soil change how plants grow. They reduce how many seeds sprout, and affect the number of leaves, stem thickness, and green color in plants.

Tiny plastics in the soil are a risk not only to soil biodiversity but also to food safety and human health. Soil biodiversity is important for plant growth in farming. Farming activities like plastic mulching and using city waste add to tiny plastic pollution in the soil. Soils changed by humans are often used to grow more crops, but the effects can be more harmful than helpful.

Plastics also release toxic chemicals into the environment. They cause physical, chemical, and biological harm to living things. Eating plastic can kill animals by blocking their insides. It can also travel up the food chain, affecting humans.

Effects of Plastic on Oceans and Seabirds

Marine life is greatly affected by plastic pollution. Plastic pollution puts animals' lives in danger and threatens extinction. Sea animals like seabirds, whales, fish, and turtles mistake plastic waste for food. Most then die of starvation because their stomachs fill with plastic. They also suffer from cuts, infections, trouble swimming, and internal injuries. This shows how much marine wildlife is hurt by plastic pollution. Globally, 100,000 marine mammals die every year from plastic pollution. This includes whales, dolphins, porpoises, seals, and sea lions.

Effects of Plastic on Freshwater Ecosystems

Research on plastic pollution in freshwater has been largely ignored compared to ocean ecosystems. Only 13% of studies on the topic focus on freshwater.

Plastics enter freshwater bodies, underground water, and moving freshwaters through runoff and erosion of poorly managed plastic waste. In some areas, directly dumping waste into rivers is still a problem, though laws have tried to limit it. Rivers are the main way plastics get into ocean ecosystems. They might carry 80% of the plastic pollution in the oceans. Studies on the top ten river systems for plastic waste showed that some rivers contribute as much as 88–95% of ocean-bound plastics. Asian rivers contribute nearly 67% of ocean plastic waste each year. This is due to many people living near coasts and heavy seasonal rainfall.

Impacts on Freshwater Animals

Plastic exposure in amphibians has mostly been studied in young stages. This is when they live in water, making experiments easier. Studies on a frog found that plastics might cause harmful changes to their bodies. More research is needed on how amphibians react to plastic pollution. Freshwater mammals and birds have long been known to have bad interactions with plastic pollution. This often leads to them getting tangled or choking after eating plastic. Fish have been studied the most. Most studies show that fish, both wild and in labs, eat plastic.

Effects of Plastic on Humans

The site where the refuse is being recycled in Ghana

Chemicals used in making plastic pollute the air and water. Some chemicals in plastics, like phthalates and bisphenol A (BPA), are closely watched because they can be very harmful. Even though they are unsafe, they are used in food packaging, medical devices, flooring, bottles, perfumes, and cosmetics. Breathing in tiny plastics has been shown to be a major way humans take them in. Tiny plastics in dust particles are always moving through indoor air systems. Large amounts of these chemicals are dangerous to humans, harming the body's hormone system. BPA acts like the female hormone estrogen. Other chemicals can damage thyroid hormones, which are important for growth and development. Tiny plastics can also harm male reproduction. They can interfere with hormone production and early stages of sperm development. They can also cause stress and DNA damage in men.

While the amount of exposure to these chemicals varies, most humans are exposed to many of them at once. Average daily exposure levels are usually below what is considered unsafe. But more research is needed on the effects of low-level exposure. We do not know how badly humans are physically affected by these chemicals. Some chemicals in plastic can cause skin rashes if they touch the skin. In many plastics, these toxic chemicals are only used in very small amounts. But often, a lot of testing is needed to make sure the toxic parts are safely contained within the plastic. Children and women of childbearing age are most at risk. They are more likely to damage their immune and reproductive systems from these hormone-disrupting chemicals. Baby bottles, pacifiers, and plastic feeding tools put babies and children at high risk of exposure.

Human health has also been negatively affected by plastic pollution. Almost a third of groundwater sites in the U.S. contain BPA. BPA is harmful even at very low levels because it interferes with our hormone and reproductive systems. This shows how much of our water is contaminated. "At every stage of its lifecycle, plastic poses distinct risks to human health. This comes from both exposure to plastic particles themselves and related chemicals." This means that plastic harms us from when it is made to when it is thrown away.

A 2022 study found tiny plastics in the blood of 80% of people tested. These tiny plastics have the potential to get stuck in human organs.

New Disease: Plasticosis

In 2023, a new disease called plasticosis was found in seabirds. It is caused only by plastics. Birds with this disease have scarred digestive systems from eating plastic waste. When birds eat small pieces of plastic, it inflames their digestive tract. Over time, this constant inflammation causes tissues to become scarred and damaged. This affects their digestion, growth, and ability to survive.

What We Can Do to Reduce Plastic

Household items made of various types of plastic.

Waste generation, measured in kilograms per person per day

People are working to reduce plastic use, encourage plastic recycling, and lessen plastic pollution. A scientific review found that the best way to deal with this "global threat" is to use less new plastic. Also, countries need to work together on waste management, like banning plastic waste exports unless it leads to better recycling.

Some supermarkets charge for plastic bags. In some places, reusable or biodegradable materials are used instead of plastics. Some communities and businesses have banned common plastic items, like bottled water and plastic bags. Some groups have started voluntary plastic reduction programs. For example, restaurants can get certificates for being eco-friendly.

In January 2019, a "Global Alliance to End Plastic Waste" was formed by plastic companies. This group aims to clean up existing waste and increase recycling. However, it does not mention reducing plastic production as a goal. Some reports suggest the group is just trying to make themselves look good without making real changes.

On March 2, 2022, representatives from 175 countries promised to create a legally binding agreement to end plastic pollution. This agreement should cover the entire life of plastic and suggest alternatives like reusability. A committee was created to design this agreement by the end of 2024. The agreement should help us move to a circular economy, which will reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 25%.

About 100 countries have banned or taxed single-use plastic bags. This has successfully reduced pollution and has public support. Many have also taken steps to reduce the use of single-use cutlery, straws, and coffee stirrers.

A report found that nearly 90% of people surveyed in 28 countries believe a global plastic treaty will help solve the plastic pollution crisis.

Biodegradable and Degradable Plastics

Using biodegradable plastics has good and bad points. Biodegradables are natural plastics that break down in industrial composters. They do not break down as well in home composters, and during this slower process, methane gas might be released.

There are also other types of degradable materials that are not natural plastics. They are oil-based, like regular plastics. These plastics are made to break down more easily with special additives. These additives help them break down when exposed to UV rays or other stresses. However, these additives have not been shown to greatly increase breakdown.

Even though biodegradable and degradable plastics have helped reduce pollution, there are some problems. One issue is that they do not break down very well in natural environments. There, oil-based degradable plastics might break into smaller pieces but then stop breaking down further.

A committee in the United Kingdom found that compostable and biodegradable plastics could add to marine pollution. This is because there is not enough infrastructure to handle these new plastics. Also, people do not understand them well. For example, these plastics need to go to special composting facilities to break down properly. But there is no good system to make sure waste gets to these places. The committee suggested reducing the amount of plastic used instead of introducing new types.

Scientists have also found new enzymes that allow tiny living things in polluted areas to digest normal, hard-to-break-down plastic. A 2021 study found 30,000 possible new enzymes that could break down 17 types of plastic. But there is no evidence yet that these new enzymes are breaking down a lot of plastic to reduce pollution.

Burning Plastic Waste

Up to 60% of used plastic medical equipment is burned instead of put in landfills. This is a safety measure to prevent the spread of diseases. This has greatly reduced plastic waste from medical equipment.

On a large scale, plastics, paper, and other materials provide useful fuel for waste-to-energy plants. About 12% of all plastic produced has been burned. Many studies have looked at the gases released from burning plastic. Burning plastics releases toxins like dioxins, furans, mercury, and polychlorinated biphenyls. If burned outside special facilities, this can cause serious health problems and air pollution.

Rules and Policies

Share of inadequately managed plastic waste (2010)

Projected share of inadequately managed plastic waste (2025)

Government agencies often do not check the safety of new chemicals until a problem is seen. Once they suspect a chemical might be toxic, they study it. They try to find the lowest amount that causes a bad effect. They test a high dose first. If it does not cause problems, lower doses are thought to be safe. But this does not always consider that some chemicals in plastics, like BPA, can have an effect even at low doses. Still, policies have been put in place to help with plastic pollution. Governments have banned some chemicals from certain plastic products.

In Canada, the United States, and the European Union, BPA has been banned from baby bottles and children's cups. This is due to health concerns and because young children are more sensitive to BPA's effects. Taxes have also been set up to discourage certain ways of handling plastic waste. For example, a landfill tax makes it more expensive to put plastics in landfills. This encourages recycling instead. There are also standards for what plastics can be called compostable. The European Norm EN 13432 lists the rules plastics must meet to be officially labeled as compostable.

The European Investment Bank Group wants to increase its help for ocean cleanup. For example, the Clean Oceans Initiative (COI) was started in 2018. This group plans to give €4 billion in funding to reduce plastic waste in the sea by the end of 2025. Examples include better wastewater treatment in Sri Lanka, Egypt, and South Africa, and solid waste management in Togo and Senegal.

Companies Not Meeting Goals

Major plastic producers continue to try to stop governments from limiting plastic production. They prefer to set their own voluntary goals to reduce new plastic. However, the world's top 10 plastic producers, including The Coca-Cola Company, Nestle SA, and PepsiCo, have not even met their own minimum goals for using new plastic.

The export of plastic waste from rich countries to poorer countries has been well documented. Differences in environmental rules and costs between countries affect the legal and illegal trade of waste, including plastics.

There have been international agreements about ocean plastic pollution. But there is nothing specifically about plastics that enter the ocean from land.

In 2019, the Basel Convention was changed to include plastic waste. 187 countries agreed to limit the export of plastic waste. This means countries cannot trade with non-members (like the United States) unless they have a special agreement. In January 2021, when the agreement started, trade data showed that overall waste exports from the U.S. actually increased.

Global Plastic Pollution Treaty

Some experts and groups believe that a legally binding international agreement is needed to deal with plastic pollution. They think this because plastic pollution is a global problem that moves across borders. They also believe there needs to be a limit on plastic production.

In 2022, countries agreed to create a global plastic pollution treaty by 2024.

Waste Import Bans

Since about 2017, China, Turkey, Malaysia, Cambodia, and Thailand have banned certain waste imports. This might lead to more automation and recycling, which could help the environment.

A group called Basel Action Network found that rules from the Basel Convention were often broken in 2021. The U.S., Canada, and the European Union sent huge amounts of plastic to countries with poor waste management. Much of this plastic ended up in landfills, burned, or littered into the environment.

Circular Economy Policies

Laws about recycling, waste management, and product design can help prevent plastic pollution. A study suggests that making producers responsible for their products is a good way to fight plastic pollution. They say that existing laws and initiatives play a vital role.

Making products, especially packaging, more standard could help with recycling. Right now, packaging is often made of different materials that are hard to separate or recycle together. For example, there are systems that can sort 12 types of plastics using special cameras. But only about 9% of the estimated 6.3 billion tons of plastic waste from the 1950s to 2018 has been recycled.

Collecting, Recycling, and Reducing Plastic

The two main ways to collect waste are curbside pickup and drop-off recycling centers. About 87% of people in the United States have access to these. In curbside pickup, people put specific plastics in a special bin to be collected. Most programs collect more than one type of plastic. At drop-off centers, people take their recyclables to a central place. Once collected, plastics are sorted into different types to increase their value. Then they are pressed into bales to reduce shipping costs.

Recycling rates vary for different types of plastic. In 2017, the overall plastic recycling rate in the United States was about 8.4%. About 3.0 million tons of plastics were recycled in the U.S. in 2017, while 26.8 million tons were put in landfills. Some plastics are recycled more than others. For example, about 31.2% of HDPE bottles and 29.1% of PET bottles and jars were recycled in 2017.

Reusable packaging is made of strong materials and designed to be used many times. There are zero-waste stores and refill shops for some products. Regular supermarkets also allow refilling of some plastic-packaged products or sell products with less or more sustainable packaging.

In May 2019, a new service called "Loop" started in New York. It collects packaging from customers and reuses it. Customers put packages in special bags, and then they are picked up, cleaned, refilled, and returned. This aims to stop single-use items in general, not just plastic.

Another good idea, which policies could support, is to get rid of the need for plastic bottles. People could use refillable steel bottles or water carbonators. This might also prevent health problems from tiny plastics.

Reducing plastic waste can help recycling. The "3R" often refers to Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle.

Ocean Cleanup Efforts

The organization "The Ocean Cleanup" is trying to collect plastic waste from the oceans using nets. Some people worry this might harm some sea organisms.

Great Bubble Barrier

In the Netherlands, plastic litter from some rivers is collected by a bubble barrier. This stops plastics from floating into the sea. This 'Great Bubble Barrier' catches plastics bigger than 1 mm. It is used in the River IJssel (2017) and in Amsterdam (2019). It will also be used in Katwijk at the end of the river Rhine.

Mapping and Tracking Plastic Pollution

Our World In Data provides maps and charts showing where plastic pollution comes from, including in the oceans.

Finding the biggest sources of ocean plastics can help us understand the causes, measure progress, and create good solutions.

A large part of ocean plastics may come from plastic waste in coastal cities and from rivers. Some studies suggest that the top 1000 rivers account for 80% of global plastic emissions each year. The Yangtze river is identified by some studies as a very high plastic-emitting river. Managing waste locally in coastal areas is very important for reducing plastic pollution worldwide.

There is a global, interactive map that uses machine learning and satellite monitoring to find plastic waste sites. This could help identify who and where plastic waste is poorly managed and dumped into oceans.

Efforts to Stop Plastic Pollution by Big Companies

Surgical mask among dry grass in Brastad during the COVID-19 pandemic

Ten big companies that make the most plastic, including The Coca-Cola Company, Nestle, and PepsiCo, have been accused of trying to stop government efforts to fix the plastic pollution problem. A report says these companies delay laws so they can keep selling disposable plastic packaging. These big plastic producers have used fears about the COVID-19 pandemic to try to delay or reverse existing plastic rules. They have also made voluntary promises to reduce plastic waste. This is seen as a way to stop governments from making more rules.

PepsiCo faced a lawsuit in November 2023. The lawsuit claimed the company harmed the environment and lied about its efforts to reduce single-use plastic. A lot of plastic pollution along the Buffalo River was linked to PepsiCo products.

Misleading the Public About Recycling

As early as the 1970s, leaders in the plastic industry knew that most of the plastic they made would never be recycled. A 1973 report by industry scientists said that sorting hundreds of different plastics was "impossible" and too expensive. By the late 1980s, industry leaders also knew that people needed to feel good about buying plastic products for their business to keep growing. They needed to stop proposed laws to control plastic sales. So, the industry started a huge campaign to tell Americans that plastic could be, and was being, recycled. They also pushed cities to start expensive plastic waste collection programs and urged states to require recycling symbols on plastic products. However, they were confident that these recycling efforts would not recover enough plastic to hurt their profits from selling new plastic products. This is because they knew the recycling efforts they promoted were likely to fail. More recently, industry leaders have planned for 100% recycling of their plastic by 2040. They are calling for better collection, sorting, and processing.

Raising Awareness About Plastic Pollution

Earth Day

In 2019, the Earth Day Network worked with other groups for the first nationwide Earth Day CleanUp. Cleanups were held in all 50 states and other areas. Over 500,000 volunteers cleaned up 5,300 sites.

Earth Day 2020 was the 50th Anniversary. Celebrations included the Great Global CleanUp, citizen science, and education. This Earth Day aimed to teach and involve over a billion people to support the next generation of environmental activists, with a big focus on plastic waste.

World Environment Day

Every year, June 5 is observed as World Environment Day. This day raises awareness and encourages governments to act on plastic pollution. In 2018, India hosted the 43rd World Environment Day, and the theme was "Beat Plastic Pollution," focusing on single-use plastic. India's Ministry of Environment asked people to take responsibility and do good green deeds every day. Several states presented plans to ban plastic or greatly reduce its use.

Other Actions

On April 11, 2013, artist Maria Cristina Finucci created The Garbage Patch State at UNESCO headquarters in Paris, France. This was done to raise awareness. This was the first of many events supported by UNESCO and the Italian Ministry of the Environment.

Mexico City banned single-use plastics. This started with plastic bags in 2020 and expanded to items like utensils and straws in 2021.

In 2020, China announced a three-part plan to reduce plastic pollution. The plan includes a nationwide ban on single-use plastics. This came as China's plastic waste was expected to reach 45 million tons in 2025, partly due to more online shopping packaging.

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