Waste plastic production¶
Overview¶
We have created lots of plastic.
9.13 Billion tons = 18.26 TRILLION pounds (18,260,000,000,000 lbs )
Only 24% of plastic remains in use in the items around us.
about 76% has become waste.
6.93 Billion tons = 6,930,000,000 tons
of plastic has become waste.
Break down below.Values from: http://advances.sciencemag.org/content/3/7/e1700782
Plastic properties recap¶
Plastic is created to be chemically inert.
Plastic does not react chemically with most other substances, giving it the ability of storing substances like alcohol, soap, water, acid, or gasoline without contaminating what is inside, or dissolving the container itself.
Because of this, plastic does not decay when buried in landfills or strewn about the environment.
What it all means¶
Plastic disposal poses a difficult and significant environmental problem.
Plastic waste will be in landfills and the environment for centuries and possibly millennia, only breaking into smaller and smaller pieces called microplastics that are affecting the environment, animals, and humans.
More on this in the next section: (Plastic footprint link.)
Adding it all up¶
In the values below, global plastic production is measured and traced through its final fate from the beginning of mass production in the year 1950 to 2015.
-
9.13 Billion tons of plastic has been produced world wide.
18.26 TRILLION pounds (18,260,000,000,000 lbs )
-
2.75 Billion tons is still in use in every day items.
- 5.06 Billion tons has gone straight to landfills.
- 0.77 Billion tons has been incinerated
- 0.55 Billion tons has been recycled
Of this recycled plastic:
0.11 Billion tons is still in use
0.33 Billion tons ended in landfills
0.11 Billion tons were incinerated
Creation to end life¶
Then¶
Prior to 1980, recycling and incineration of plastic was negligible;
- 100 percent was therefore discarded.
From 1980 for incineration, and 1990 for recycling
- rates increased on average by about 0.7 percent per year.
Values from:
http://advances.sciencemag.org/content/3/7/e1700782
Creation to end life chart¶
| Description | Weight |
|---|---|
| Total Plasic Created | 9,130,000,000 tons |
| Original plastic still in use | 2,750,000,000 tons |
| Recycled then still in use | 110,000,000 tons |
| TOTAL plastic still in use | 2,860,000,000 tons |
| Plastic Waste | 6,270,000,000 tons |
| Original plastic to landfills | 5,060,000,000 tons |
| Recycled then landfills | 330,000,000 tons |
| TOTAL Plastic to landfills | 5,390,000,000 tons |
| Original plastic incinerated | 7700,000,000 tons |
| Recycled then incinerated | 110,000,000 tons |
| TOTAL plastic incinerated | 880,000,000 tons |
| Sum of Plastic recycled | 550,000,000 tons |
Now¶
In 2015, an estimated:
- 55 percent of global plastic waste was discarded
- 25 percent was incinerated
- 20 percent recycled
Values and graph from
https://ourworldindata.org/plastic-pollution#plastic-waste-generation-across-the-world
Plastic waste created yearly¶
Plastic production continues to grow yearly, especially for packaging, the largest end use market segment.
Packaging accounts for just over 40% of total plastic usage.
Roughly half of annual plastic production is destined for single-use product
Single use plastic materials have a working life of 15 minutes, but take hundreds to thousands of years to decompose.
Values from: https://plasticoceans.org/the-facts/
Yeary plastic waste chart¶
According to https://ourworldindata.org/plastic-pollution, three-quarters of plastic production ends up as waste.
Below are the calculated values of global plastic waste creation yearly.
| Year | Plastic waste created |
|---|---|
| 2000 | 176,000,000 tons |
| 2005 | 216,000,000 tons |
| 2010 | 261,000,000 tons |
| 2015 | 314,000,000 tons |
| 2016 | 325,000,000 tons |
| 2017 | 336,000,000 tons |
| 2018 | 349,000,000 tons |
Plastic waste creation by industry¶
Packaging is the dominant generator of plastic waste
Packaging is responsible for almost half of the global waste total.
Packaging has a very short 'in-use' lifetime.
Anywhere from 15 minutes to 6 months
Construction, on the other hand, has a mean lifetime of 35 years.
Values from: http://advances.sciencemag.org/content/3/7/e1700782
Industry plastic waste chart¶
Values below represent plastic waste production by industry in the year 2015
| Industry | Plastic produced |
|---|---|
| Packaging | 155,100,000 tons |
| Other sector | 46,200,000 tons |
| Textiles | 41,800,000 tons |
| Consumer products | 40,700,000 tons |
| Transportation | 18,700,000 tons |
| Electrical | 14,300,000 tons |
| Building & Construction | 14,300,000 tons |
| Industry machinery | 1,100,000 tons |
Next we will explore the damage all this plastic is doing in Plastics Footprint.