Sep 23, 2024 · Plastic pollution has become one of the most pressing environmental issues, as rapidly increasing production of disposable plastic products overwhelms the world’s ability to deal with them....

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.

Plastic pollution is the accumulation of plastic objects and particles (e.g. plastic bottles, bags and microbeads) in the Earth's environment that adversely affects humans, wildlife and their habitat. [1][2] Plastics that act as pollutants are categorized by size into micro-, meso-, or macro debris. [3] .

Apr 25, 2023 · Why is plastic pollution such a problem? Affordable, durable and flexible, plastic pervades modern life, appearing in everything from packaging to clothes to beauty products. But it is thrown away on a massive scale: every year, more than 280 million tonnes of short-lived plastic products become waste.

Feb 26, 2025 · Plastics are persistent large-scale pollutants, and plastic debris (such as bottles, straws, containers, and plastic wrap) and particulates have been found in many environmental niches, from Mount Everest to the bottom of the sea.

Apr 23, 2024 · Plastic pollution has become ubiquitous in natural and built environments, raising concerns about potential harm to humans and nature alike. Once in the environment, research shows that plastic pollution is persistent and may take between 100 to 1,000 years or more to decompose, depending on environmental conditions.

Feb 8, 2022 · 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.

The U.S. produced more plastic waste than any other nation in 2016, generating 42Mt of plastic waste total and 130 kg of plastic waste per capita per year. 7 In 2019, 86% of plastic waste managed as MSW in the U.S. went to landfill.

Feb 20, 2025 · Reducing pollution from plastic production operations in the United States is essential to minimizing the environmental and human health impacts of plastic on communities. Conduct evaluations to ensure that fossil fuel extraction facilities, as well as petrochemical and plastic production facilities, comply with regulatory requirements.

Feb 17, 2025 · Plastic poses a serious threat to our oceans and waterways. Birds, turtles, fish, and other marine life ingest plastic pieces, mistaking them for fish eggs, plankton, jellyfish, or other food sources. Every year, hundreds of thousands of sea creatures, both large and small, die from complications relating to plastic debris – they may have a ...