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A majority of plastics used in people's day to day lives are never recycled. Single use plastics of this kind contribute significantly to the 8 million tons of plastic waste found in the ocean each year. [2] If this trend continues, by the year 2050 there will be more plastic than fish in the ocean by weight. [28]
There are differing estimates of how much plastic waste has been produced in the last century. By one estimate, one billion tons of plastic waste have been discarded since the 1950s. [32] Others estimate a cumulative human production of 8.3 billion tons of plastic, of which 6.3 billion tons is waste, with only 9% getting recycled. [33] [34] [35]
Discarded plastic bags, six-pack rings, cigarette butts and other forms of plastic waste which finish up in the ocean present dangers to wildlife and fisheries. [52] Aquatic life can be threatened through entanglement, suffocation, and ingestion. [53] [54] [55] Fishing nets, usually made of plastic, can be left or lost in the ocean by fishermen.
Far too much of the stateside-generated plastic, between 1.2 million and 2.5 million tons, happened to end up as litter in rivers, lakes, oceans, as well as on land.
The 20 percent of packaging waste that comes from marine sources comes from the rivers of China starting from least to greatest contributors, the Hanjiang, Zhujiang, Dong, Huangpu, Xi, and Yangtze river. [4] All other marine sources comes from rivers of Africa and Southeast Asia. [4] Plastic ocean input from top 20 rivers in 2015. [4]
Of the 300 million tons of plastic material produced each year, over 14 million tons end up in the ocean, and plastic production is continuing to increase. [31] Marine litter as a whole is imposing environmental threats to marine ecosystems and policy solutions are crucial to better the ocean.
BUSAN, South Korea (Reuters) -Countries negotiating a global treaty to curb plastic pollution failed to reach agreement on Monday with over 100 nations wanting to cap production while a handful of ...
It takes about 500 years for plastic to photo-degrade completely in the sunlight. Until this plasctic actually disappears it will hang around and circulate as it is transported by the ocean's ...