Solely 9.5% of plastic supplies produced globally in 2022 have been manufactured from recycled supplies. The findings, reported in Nature Communications Earth & Atmosphere, are a part of a complete evaluation of the worldwide plastics sector, which additionally reveals a big improve within the quantity of plastic being disposed of by incineration and substantial regional variations in plastic consumption.
Plastic manufacturing has elevated from two million tonnes per yr in 1950 to 400 million tonnes per yr in 2022 and is projected to achieve 800 million tonnes per yr by 2050. Consequently, plastic air pollution is a urgent and rising international problem, posing main challenges for the setting, economic system, and public well being. Nonetheless, there may be at the moment little complete evaluation of the up to date international plastics sector.
Quanyin Tan and colleagues carried out an evaluation of the worldwide plastics sector in 2022, utilizing knowledge from nationwide statistics, trade stories, and worldwide databases to provide an in depth international and regional overview of plastic manufacturing, use, and disposal. Knowledge from their evaluation highlights key tendencies within the international plastic provide chain. Of the 400 million tonnes of plastic produced over the yr, just below 38 million tonnes (9.5%) was produced from recycled plastic. 98% of the remaining 362 million tonnes was produced from fossil fuels, predominantly coal and oil.
Round 268 million tonnes of plastic was disposed of over the yr, with solely 27.9% despatched for sorting and potential recycling — 36.2% was as a substitute despatched on to landfill and 22.2% was despatched on to incineration. Moreover, solely half of the sorted plastic was really recycled, with 41% of the sorted plastic as a substitute incinerated and eight.4% despatched to landfill. Nonetheless, the full proportion of world plastic waste despatched to landfill in 2022 (40%) has nonetheless decreased considerably in comparison with the estimated 79% of all international plastic waste despatched to landfill between 1950 and 2015. The USA had the very best per capita plastic consumption, with a median of 216 kg of plastic consumed per particular person per yr, while China consumed probably the most plastic total — 80 million tonnes per yr.
The authors say the examine offers vital knowledge for devising future insurance policies and rules.
