Did you know?
Some 11 million tonnes of plastic waste flow annually into oceans. This may triple by 2040.
More than 800 marine and coastal species are affected by this pollution through ingestion, entanglement, and other dangers.
A shift to a circular economy can reduce the volume of plastics entering oceans by over 80 per cent by 2040; reduce virgin plastic production by 55 per cent; save governments US$70 billion by 2040; reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 25 per cent; and create 700,000 additional jobs – mainly in the global south.
Solutions to plastic pollution
More than 400 million tonnes of plastic is produced every year worldwide, half of which is designed to be used only once. Of that, less than 10 per cent is recycled.
An estimated 19-23 million tonnes end up in lakes, rivers and seas annually. That is approximately the weight of 2,200 Eiffel Towers all together.
Microplastics – tiny plastic particles up to 5mm in diameter – find their way into food, water and air. It is estimated that each person on the planet consumes more than 50,000 plastic particles per year –and many more if inhalation is considered.
Discarded or burnt single-use plastic harms human health and biodiversity and pollutes every ecosystem from mountain tops to the ocean floor.
With available science and solutions to tackle the problem, governments, companies and other stakeholders must scale up and speed actions to solve this crisis.
This underscores the importance of this World Environment Day in mobilizing transformative action from every corner of the world.
Sea turtle diving next to a plastic bag in the ocean
#BeatPlasticPollution
Join the #BeatPlasticPollution movement through the official website of World Environment Day 2023. You can access more interesting information, the actions you can carry out to contribute, as well as a large number of materials to promote the movement through social media. Every performance, no matter how small, matters.
illustration of various types of plastic pollution: bottles, tires, clothes
From pollution to solution
What do the deepest point in the ocean, the Mariana trench, and the highest mountain peak in the world, Mt. Everest, have in common? Despite being among the planet's most inaccessible environments, they both contain tiny pieces of plastic from human activities miles away. Discover in this visual report the problem of garbage in the oceans. More interactive and visual stories here.
Dandora landfill in Nairobi, Kenya.
Plastic, a danger for climate change
Plastic is predominantly produced from oil and gas, both of which are fossil fuels. The more plastic we make, the more fossil fuel is required, the more we intensify the climate crisis. Also, plastic products create greenhouse gas emissions across their whole lifecycle. If no action is taken, greenhouse gas emissions caused by plastic could account for 19% of the Paris Agreement's total allowable emissions in 2040 to limit warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius. Read more about climate change.
