When plastic was first invented, we thought it was the best thing since sliced bread. By the time we realised, it was far too late.
Plastic is used in many ways and integrated into countless aspects of our lives, and its ecological impact is undeniable.
Although global efforts are ongoing to mitigate plastic pollution, there’s still a long road ahead.
While Barbie’s life may be fantastically plastic, ours is not so much. Read on for ten staggering facts about plastic that are far from fantastic!
As much as 99% of all seafood we eat contains plastic.
Studies have found that we eat as much as 3.8 million microplastics each year, but that’s not just from fish.
Microplastic has been discovered in pretty much all forms of seafood, including invertebrates such as clams and squid and crustaceans like shrimp and prawns (yes, they’re actually different!).
Traces of plastic also come from food packaging and even reheating leftovers in the microwave!
While the human body can clear out small plastic particles, scientists are still determining whether they pose significant health risks.
Only 9% of all plastic has ever been recycled.
Wait, then where does the other 91% go? Well, 19% gets incinerated, but a significant amount, between 8.8 to 15.4 million tons (8 to 14 million metric tons), ends up in the ocean.
Meanwhile, the remaining plastic has been piling up in landfills and dispersing across locations such as beaches, forests, rivers, and lakes.
So wait, is recycling a scam? You tell us!
A horde of plastic enters the ocean every 60 seconds.
Alarmingly, a 2016 study forecasted that by 2030, at least two truckloads of plastic waste would spill into the ocean every minute. This figure is estimated to double by 2050.
So, where does it all go? A lot ends up in The Great Pacific Garbage Patch, a floating monstrosity of plastic that drifts around between Hawaii and California in the North Pacific Ocean.
There are over 5 trillion pieces of plastic in the ocean.
Out of that total, 269,000 tons (273,304 metric tons) are floating on the ocean’s surface, visible to all.
Further down, the deep sea is polluted with a staggering ten billion plastic microfibres for every square mile (four billion per square kilometer).
As a result, fish and all other marine life frequently ingest plastic. In addition to eating seafood full of plastic, birds and sea animals also become entangled in plastic debris.
73% of debris found on beaches around the world is plastic.
The plastic found on the globe’s shores looks mostly the same everywhere—a scattering of bottles, toothbrushes, some old polystyrene, and so on.
One of the planet’s most plastic-polluted beaches is Kamilo Beach, located on Big Island in Hawaii, east of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch.
Its close proximity means that all sorts of odd things wash up on the beach, including the back panel from a TV!
Around 100,000 marine mammals die annually due to plastic pollution.
Overall, plastic has significantly impacted the lives of 81 species of marine mammals.
Incredibly, one sperm whale’s post-mortem revealed that it had ingested 66 pounds (30 kilograms) of plastic, causing it serious health problems.
Meanwhile, a 2023 study revealed that trash was present at 77 out of 84 coral reefs worldwide, with plastic making up 88%, highlighting the widespread impact on marine ecosystems.
Over 40% of plastic is created to be used just once.
According to Statista, grocery bags are the most common single-use item contributing to plastic pollution, especially in our oceans. Incredibly, around five trillion plastic bags are used worldwide every year!
Single-use plastics such as bottles and wrappers are also causing significant problems for our planet.
More worryingly, 98% of single-use plastic products are made from fossil fuels.
It has been predicted that the greenhouse gases emitted during production, usage, and disposal could grow to 19% of the global carbon budget by 2040.
A 2019 study found that 100% of marine life swept ashore in the United Kingdom had plastic inside them.
This included fifty animals across ten species, all with plastic in their stomachs and intestines.
This plastic contamination was primarily due to synthetic fibers from items like fishing nets as well as microplastics.
Affected species included the bottled-nose dolphin, harbor seal, and pygmy sperm whale, which are found all around Great Britain’s shores.
Around 70% of plastic waste entering the environment worldwide is generated by only 20 countries.
In 2024, a real-world data simulation study placed India at the top of the plastic pollution leaderboard by a long shot, producing 10.2 million tons (9.3 million metric tons) each year.
Next on the list is Nigeria, with 3.9 million tons (3.5 million metric tons), which is almost a third of India’s output.
Despite having a similar population to India, China ranked 4th with 3.1 million tons (2.8 million metric tons) of waste released into the environment.
Plastic particles were found in human blood for the first time in 2022.
During a trial involving 22 participants, scientists in the Netherlands discovered that 17 had microplastics in their blood.
The study found numerous types of microplastics, including PET (found in plastic bottles), polystyrene (used for food packaging), and polyethylene (found in cling film and plastic bags).
With over 5 trillion pieces of plastic debris in the ocean, damage to crucial habitats, and plastic now found in human blood, it is clear that it’s high time to act.
We can raise awareness through days like Plastic-Free July and movements like Plastic Positive and switch to paper straws, but that’s not enough.
We need real change, and soon, or we’ll be drowning in plastic before we know it.
