If plastic manufacturing goes up 10%, plastic pollution goes up 10% – and we’re set for a huge surge in production
The Conversation, Other, 25/04/2024, Kathryn Willis, Britta Denise Hardesty and Katie Conlon
In the two decades to 2019, global plastic production doubled. By 2040, plastic manufacturing and processing could consume as much as 20% of global oil production and use up 15% of the annual carbon emissions budget. Most of the plastic we make ends up as waste. As plastic manufacturers increase production, more and more of it will end up in our landfills, rivers and oceans. Plastic waste is set to triple by 2060.