In this guide, find out how plastic enters the environment, its impact on wildlife, microplastics, and even how it effects our health.
These facts are from our 'Science Behind The Film Document' that supports A Plastic Ocean.
1. 422 million tonnes of plastic are being produced each year. This could weigh more than humanity, estimated at 316 million tonnes in 2013.1
2. 12.7 million tonnes of plastic enter the Ocean every year. If waste management practices don't improve, scientists predict this amount could increase tenfold by 2025.2
3. Plastics make up to around 75% of marine litter, although this can be up to 100% at some sites.3
4. Plastic in the Ocean breaks up into smaller fragments called microplastics, which have been identified in commercial fish consumed by humans.4
5. Half of all plastics are single-use applications, used just once and then disposed of.5
6. Plastic was invented 150 years ago. It never goes away it just gets smaller, making it harder to remove from the Ocean. Plastic is indestructible, it was designed to defy nature, designed not to decompose6
7. Birds are highly susceptible to plastic ingestion. It is estimated that over 90% of all seabirds have ingested plastic.7
8. There is no floating island of plastic at the centre of the Ocean. The so-called Great Pacific Garbage Patch is invisible from the surface however, plankton nets show the real problem which is an accumulation of microplastics that fill up each net that increase towards the Ocean centre.8
9. Chemicals are added to plastic during its production to give it certain properties and some known endocrine disruptors which have been linked to critical disease including, birth defects, cancer, autoimmune disease, infertility and cognitive and behavioural disorders.9
10. Plastic acts as a sink for chemicals in the environment, and transports them. When the plastic is mistakenly consumed by marine life these plastic chemicals are released and stored in the fatty tissue of the animal. They then travel up the marine food chain, magnifying in concentration on their way up.10
1 Science Advances 30 Oct 2020: Vol. 6, no. 44, Lavender, Starr, Siegler, Jambeck, Mallos, Leonard
2 JR Jambeck et al. (2015). Plastic waste inputs from land into the ocean. https://science.sciencemag.org/content/347/6223/768
3 François Galgani (2015). Global Distribution, Composition and Abundance of Marine Litter. https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-319-16510-3_2
4 CM Rochman et al (2015). Anthropogenic debris in seafood: Plastic debris and fibers from textiles in fish and bivalves sold for human consumption. https://www.nature.com/articles/srep14340%C2%A0%E2%80%A6
5 J Hopewell et al (2009). Plastics recycling: challenges and opportunities. https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rstb.2008.0311
6 DKA Barnes at al (2009). Accumulation and fragmentation of plastic debris in global environments. https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/abs/10.1098/rstb.2008.0205
7 C Wilcox et al (2015). Threat of plastic pollution to seabirds is global, pervasive, and increasing. https://www.pnas.org/content/112/38/11899
8 J. Ruxton pers. Obs. 2009
9 F Gallo (2018). Marine litter plastics and microplastics and their toxic chemicals components: the need for urgent preventive measures. https://enveurope.springeropen.com/articles/10.1186/s12302-018-0139-z
10CM Rochman (2015). The Complex Mixture, Fate and Toxicity of Chemicals Associated with Plastic Debris in the Marine Environment. https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-319-16510-3_5