What is your greatest fear? What scares you the most?
Mine is to think about the world ending. There are many factors contributing to that but what scares me the most is the plastic-menace that could potentially bring an end to our world if the current affairs continue. So, in-line with the Halloween theme for today, I compiled some facts about plastic that will surely give you nightmares.
1. One million plastic bottles are sold every minute
1,000,000- This is a million and by the time you finish reading this paragraph, these many plastic bottles would have been sold. Drinks bottles are one of the most popular forms of plastic packaging which ends up as wastage. Sadly, less than 50% of these are recycled. Just 7% of the plastic bottles are transformed into new bottles.
2. Yearly plastic waste generated can encircle the earth four times
The amount of plastic packaging that is thrown away every single year is enough in length to circle the globe four times over. Every year, plastic waste increases at a rate of 9%.
3. 50% of plastic is SINGLE-USE PLASTIC
Half of the plastic that is destroying the ecosystem is created for single use. These mostly include plastic bottles, coffee cup lids, straws, and food packaging. With such a throwaway culture, only 5% of plastic is recovered from what is produced. Most of the plastics advertised as “BIODEGRADABLE/COMPOSTABLE PLASTICS” are a sham too.
4. 73% of beach litter worldwide is plastic
National Geographic says that 73% of all beach litter is plastic.The litter includes filters from cigarette butts, bottles, bottle caps, food wrappers, grocery bags, and polystyrene containers.
5. There will be 12 billion tonnes of plastic waste in landfills by 2050 Since the beginning of plastic production, it is estimated that at least 8.3 billion tonnes of plastic have been produced. 76% of this plastic produced has become plastic waste and almost 80% of this plastic waste has been put to a landfill or is in the natural environment, such as the oceans. With current production rates and continued mismanagement of plastic waste across the world, it is estimated there will be 12…
