If you, like many million others across the world were transfixed by David Attenborough’s Blue Planet II recently, then you will be well aware of the message that it delivered with regards to plastic in the environment. Some of the images the great man presented to the world were truly shocking, revealing the full extent of what plastic is doing to the oceans and to the world in general. If the on-screen scenes made you want to sit up and pay attention, then here are fourteen facts about the impact that plastic has on our environment.
1 Since the Mass Production of Plastic Started, Just Six Decades Ago, We Produced More than Eight Billion Metric Tons of It. Nearly 80% of This Plastic Become Waste That is Left to Rot in Oceans, Seas, Forests and Landfills
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2 Current Projections State That There is Going to Be 12 Billion Metric Tons of Plastic in Landfills across the World. This is 35,000 Times the Weight of the Empire State Building
3 Every Single Piece of Plastic That Has Ever Been Made Still Exists in the World, and Will Remain Existing for at Least 500 Years
4 Almost 18 Billion Pounds of Plastic Waste Enters the World’s Oceans Every Single Year
5 At This Rate, by 2050 the Weight of All the Plastic in the Oceans Will Be Heavier than All of the Fish
6 With around 95% of Plastic Being One Use Packaging, around $80 to $120 Billion Dollars is Lost to the Economy Every Year
7 Every Year Five Trillion Plastic Bags Are Used around the World, That Equates to 160,000 per Second
8 Though More than Half of the World’s Plastic is Produced in Asia, Less than a Fifth of It is Recycled on That Continent
9 Plastic Factories across the World Use up to Eight Percent of the World’s Oil Supply to Complete Their Manufacturing Process
10 Plastic Waste That Floats on the Surface of the Sea Has the Potential to Survive in Tact for Thousands of Years, Disrupting Many Habitats and Species
11 There is Literally a Giant Island of Plastic Garbage Floating in the North Pacific Ocean. It Covers an Area of 620,000 Square Miles and Weighs 79,000 Metric Tons
12 The Amount of Plastic Thrown Away Every Single Year Could Circle the Earth More than Four Times
13 The Energy That is Saved from Recycling One Single Plastic Bottle Has the Power to Light a 100-watt Bulb for Almost Sixty Minutes. and Recycling Plastic Takes 88 Percent Less Energy than Producing New Plastic
14 Water Bottles Are One of the Most Prevalent Plastic Products across the World, but Did You Know That It Actually Takes Three Times as Much Water to Produce the Bottle than It Actually Holds? for Every One Litre Plastic Bottle, Three Litres of Water Were Wasted in the Making of It
