Plastic is a relatively new invention in human history with some of the first examples dating back to the late 1800s, but its versatility and low production cost have made it one of the most widely used materials of modern times. In western Europe, the average annual plastic consumption is around 150kg per person — more than twice the global average of 60kg.
Global consumption of plastic is accelerating. Over half of the plastic production ever manufactured has been produced since 2000 and we are set so double our current global annual production by 2050. Only about an estimated 9% of the plastics ever produced have been recycled and 12% have been incinerated. The remainder is either still in use or has either been disposed of in landfills or released into the environment, including the oceans.
A report by the World Economic Forum and the Ellen MacArthur Foundation showed that if we do not act on the plastic problem, there will be more plastic by mass than fish in the oceans by 2050.
The durability of plastics means that discarded items remain in the environment for generations. Environmental impacts from discarded plastics include littering, leaching of toxic components, and the contamination of ecosystems and the food chain with microplastics — which can end up eventually in humans with unknown health effects.
Besides polluting the environment, plastic production contributes to climate change: annual emissions related to plastic production in the EU amount to around 13.4 million tonnes of CO2, or about 20% of the chemicals industry’s emissions in the European Union.