Editor’s note: This is the first of a multi-part series on ongoing worldwide efforts to deal with environmental pollution caused by plastic waste. Part One of the series outlines the global scale of the problem. Part Two will look at proposed solutions by environmental groups to deal with waste plastics, as well as specific initiatives that individual locales are implementing to address the problem. Part Three of the series will feature a look at the nation of Sweden’s extraordinary culture of recycling and its progress toward its goal of recycling 100% of its waste.
The ongoing battle to protect our environment from plastic pollution continues. And though there are promising recycling programs around the world, with one nation (Sweden) leading the way, the challenge of how to deal with plastic waste without further polluting our planet remains mind-bogglingly complex and difficult.
It’s true that there are signs of hope. But there’s also an incredible amount of work to do to make a meaningful dent in the problem.
Let’s start with the numbers.
How much plastic waste is produced globally each year?
At present, the world produces 400 million tons of plastic waste each year, according to the United Nations Environmental Program. If global plastic waste production were to continue at the current rate, that number would double by 2050.
To visualize that staggering amount of plastic waste, imagine compressing it into tightly packed cubes, each one meter by one meter in size. If 400 million tons of such cubes were lined up end to end, they would stretch around the Earth’s equator approximately 10 times. The chain of plastic waste would be a quarter million miles long. That’s how much plastic waste is produced worldwide each year.
What are the types of plastics and their uses?
The current types of plastic production and what they are used for, along with their estimated global production percentages, are as follows:
- Polyethylene (PE): packaging (bags, films, containers, bottles) – 29% of overall global production
- Polypropylene (PP): automotive parts, textiles, packaging, lab equipment, consumer goods (bottle caps, food containers) – 19%
- Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC): Construction materials (pipes, fittings), medical equipment, clothing, cables, flooring – 12%
- Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET): Beverage bottles, food containers, synthetic fibers (clothing, carpets) – 10%
- Polystyrene (PS) & Expanded Polystyrene (EPS): Packaging (foam cups, containers), insulation, disposable cutlery – 7%
- Polyurethane (PU): Foams (furniture, insulation), coatings, adhesives, sealants – 7%
- Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene (ABS): Automotive parts, consumer electronics (cases for computers, phones), toys (e.g., LEGOs) – 4%
- Polycarbonate (PC): Optical discs (CDs, DVDs), eyewear lenses, automotive parts, construction materials – 3%
- Other Plastics: Nylons, acrylics, polyoxymethylene (specialized automotive, electronics and medical applications) – 9%
What percentage of plastic waste is recycled and why?
Despite decades of efforts to raise awareness of the problem and implement solutions, as of 2024, only about 10% of all plastic waste is recycled. The remaining 90% is either incinerated, placed in landfills, or leached into the environment. Almost half of all plastic waste ends up in landfills.
The reasons behind this paltry level of plastic recycling can be traced first and foremost to economics. The discouraging truth is that plastic recycling is expensive, inefficient, mostly unprofitable, and largely unenforceable, except in certain locations and only with certain types of plastics.
Here’s what’s to blame for this poor rate of plastic recycling:
- Economic factors: Virgin plastic products are made by chemically processing fossil fuel derivatives, such as natural gas and crude oil, into polymers through polymerization and polycondensation. The multi-step process of recycling plastic is almost always more expensive than the straightforward manufacturing of new plastics.
- Complexity of plastics: There are many different types of plastics. These different types require different recycling processes, which complicates sorting and recycling efforts.
- Contamination: Mixed materials and dirty plastics make recycling inefficient and costly.
- Lack of infrastructure: Many regions lack the necessary facilities and systems to properly collect and process plastic waste.
- Consumer behavior: Low public awareness and inconsistent participation in recycling programs reduce the amount of recyclable material collected.
A 2022 Greenpeace report illustrated a fundamental aspect of the problem this way:
“There are now thousands of different types of plastic, and none of them can be melted down together,” the report stated. “Plastic also degrades after one or two uses…New plastic, on the other hand, is cheap and easy to produce. The result is that plastic trash has few markets—a reality the public has not wanted to hear.”
The Greenpeace report went on to describe a scenario in Oregon that is unfortunately all too common in other US states as well as globally.
“Trent Carpenter, the general manager of Southern Oregon Sanitation, says when they told customers a couple years ago that they could no longer take any plastic trash other than soda bottles and jugs —like milk containers and detergent bottles—people were upset. They wanted to put their strawberry containers, bags, yogurt cups and all manner of plastic trash in their recycling bin.
“‘We had to re-educate individuals that a great deal of that material is ending up in a landfill,’ Carpenter said. ‘It’s not going to a recycling facility and being recycled. It’s going to a recycling facility and being landfilled someplace else because [you] can’t do anything with that material.’
“That message has been difficult for the public to absorb with so many different bins in public spaces, and their own communities telling them to put their plastic in recycling containers.”
Where do plastics end up when their uses are exhausted?
Estimates of percentages of end-of-cycle destinations for different types of plastics vary depending on the data sources. However, none of the numbers are good. Estimates range from 20-33% of plastic wastes ending up dumped back into the environment one way or another, with an estimated one-half or more of end-of-cycle plastic ending up in landfills.
The majority of plastic waste that ends up in landfills or polluting our environment, especially our oceans, is single-use plastic packaging. Convenient and cheap but environmentally toxic, single-use plastic makes up almost 40% of the plastic waste produced worldwide.
This category includes items like plastic bags, bottles, wrappers, and containers that are used once and then discarded. The high percentage highlights the need for redesigning packaging, improving recycling systems, and reducing reliance on single-use plastic through consumer awareness and, more importantly, outright bans on single-use plastic packaging.
How much plastic waste is recycled?
Regarding plastic waste that is recycled instead of landfilled or dumped into the environment, that number ranges from 5-14%, depending on the source of the estimates.
The chart below underscores one of the fundamental difficulties with recycling plastics: the various types of plastic each have their different recycling challenges.
How much plastic waste ends up in our oceans?
This is one of the most discouraging and challenging aspects of the plastic waste problem.
It is one thing to decry the vast quantities of plastic waste that end up in landfills or lament the emissions problems associated with the incineration of such waste. But the limitations of both disposal methods seem almost eco-friendly in comparison to the ongoing dumping of plastics into our oceans.
This year, more than a million metric tons of plastic waste will enter the Earth’s oceans. It’s a staggering level of pollution that comes primarily from mismanaged waste. Countries with inadequate waste management systems are the chief culprits.
The worst offenders are in Asia, with the Philippines topping the list. The archipelago nation dumps more than a third of a million metric tons of plastic waste into the Pacific Ocean every year, according to Visual Capitalist.
Other major contributors include India, Malaysia, China, and Indonesia. Collectively, these countries, along with others like Myanmar, Vietnam, Bangladesh, and Thailand, account for more than 75% of the plastic waste that ends up in our oceans.
More economically advanced nations contribute to the problem indirectly by exporting plastic waste to other countries, some of which ends up in oceans.
Is waste-to-energy (W2E) incineration a solution?
At present, waste-to-energy (W2E) incineration of plastic waste is a “lesser evil” solution to the problem of safe disposal of plastic waste. As the illustration below indicates, an estimated 14% of plastic is now disposed of in this way.
Some would label incineration of plastic waste “recycling,” and that is true if the incineration process produces some form of energy. But incinerating plastics has its own challenges, chief among them emissions of certain harmful gasses into the atmosphere during the process.
However, there continues to be significant progress in this plastic waste processing sector.
We’ll examine current and future technologies that process plastic waste through incineration and other combustion methods in Part Four of this series.
Is there any positive news regarding plastic waste?
The answer is yes, there is. There are both theoretical and practical solutions to the global problem of plastic waste. Moreover, there are also new technologies coming online that have the potential to dramatically reduce plastic waste pollution.
So, take heart and read on through the next three parts of this series. In Part Two, we’ll look at proposals that address the problem and initiatives that have shown success in battling plastic waste creation and pollution.
