![]() ![]() While many high-income countries generate high amounts of plastic waste per person, they are also typically better at processing it safely, whereas middle-income and low-income countries still developing their infrastructure tend to produce a higher percentage of mismanaged waste plastic, which is more likely to find its way from land into the ocean. A similar tragedy occurred in Greece in 2021. A necropsy revealed its stomach was clogged by more than 88 pounds (40 kg) of plastic trash. For example, in 2019, a young Cuvier's beaked whale washed ashore in the Philippines and soon died. Plastic in the ocean can injure some animals outright and is frequently-and fatally-mistaken for food by others. ![]() While plastic waste on land is undeniably a concern, a large percentage of plastic that isn’t recycled, incinerated (which emits pollutants), or sent to landfills ultimately ends up in the oceans, where it creates even larger problems. Top 10 Countries That Produce the Most Plastic Waste per Capita (kilograms per person, 2016) ![]() Top 10 Countries That Produce the Most Plastic Waste (Total million tons, 2016) Larger, more populous countries tend to produce more plastic waste overall, but when the results are filtered to show the biggest producers per capita (i.e.: per person), the ranking changes significantly. Plastic can wreak slow-but-certain havoc on an environment in multiple ways, from leaching toxic chemicals into the soil and groundwater to directly choking or poisoning animals who unwittingly ingest it. Since 1950, humans have produced more than 8 billion tons of plastic, more than half of which went straight to landfills and only about 9% of which was recycled. The world has a plastic pollution crisis. ![]()
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