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Feb 21, 2024 · Microplastics—a new health threat. Once at sea, sunlight, wind, and wave action break down plastic waste into small particles, often less than one-fifth of an inch across.
Oct 19, 2023 · Production is expected to double by 2050. Every year, about 8 million tons of plastic waste escapes into the oceans from coastal nations. That’s the equivalent of setting five garbage bags full of trash on every foot of coastline around the world.
Mar 8, 2021 · It presents information on the scale and both the human and ecological risks of plastic waste in the country (i.e. microplastics, landfill, incineration), outlines key plastic waste management policy initiatives (including plastics alternatives such as biodegradable plastics) and highlights key constraints on the success of these.
Improving the management of plastic waste across the world – especially in poorer countries, where most of the ocean plastics come from – is therefore critical to tackling this problem. On this page, you can find all of our data, visualizations, and writing on plastic pollution.
Apr 25, 2023 · Overall, 46 per cent of plastic waste is landfilled, while 22 per cent is mismanaged and becomes litter. Unlike other materials, plastic does not biodegrade. This pollution chokes marine wildlife, damages soil and poisons groundwater, and can cause serious health impacts. Is pollution the only problem with plastic?
Every year 19-23 million tonnes of plastic waste leaks into aquatic ecosystems, polluting lakes, rivers and seas. Plastic pollution can alter habitats and natural processes, reducing ecosystems’ ability to adapt to climate change, directly affecting millions of people’s livelihoods, food production capabilities and social well-being.
Jul 27, 2022 · Much of the world’s plastic waste – from large items down to barely visible microplastic particles – ends up in the ocean, where it can persist for hundreds of years. Here it has negative effects on marine life of all kinds, and ultimately causes harm to humans too.
Oct 6, 2020 · The global campaign to gain control of plastic waste is one of the fastest-growing environmental causes ever mounted. Yet it hasn’t been enough to make a dent in the growing tonnage of...
Mar 2, 2022 · The world’s nations agree to fix the plastic waste crisis. A plastic pollution treaty, called Paris Plus, would come with a mandate—and more muscle than the climate accord.
In countries with poor solid waste management systems, plastic waste — especially single-use plastic bags — can be found clogging sewers and providing breeding grounds for mosquitoes and pests, and as a result, increasing the transmission of vector-borne diseases such as malaria.
