Million Tons of Plastic Produced

The production of plastics has grown steadily from the 50’s
to today: in 1950, the global production amounted to 1.5 million tons; in 1976 it crossed the threshold of 50 million tons;
in 1989 it crossed that of 100 million tons per year; in 2015 the value was 322 million tons, and forecasts point to a doubling in production within the next two decades.

Only 14% of this plastic is recycled: 40% ends up in landfills,
14% in incinerators or in energy recovery plants, 32% is released into the environment, in particular into the sea.
(data:World Economic Forum)

The most reliable and shared estimates indicate that a total weight of 150 million tons of plastic are found in the oceans: as plastic bottles are very light, the space they take up is huge.
(data:World Economic Forum).

Plus, plastic bottles take a thousand years to dissolve: they float and are carried by currents and broken up into smaller pieces, which then group into clusters, forming real islands and damaging marine fauna that feeds on this debris.