How serious is plastic pollution?
· Plastic is the second largest source of stored waste in landfills
· More than 8 million tons of plastic waste ends up in the ocean each year
· Every minute a big garbage truck dumps its rubbish into the ocean
· More than 8 billion tons of plastic have been produced worldwide
· 9% is recycled and 90% is buried, burned and thrown into the sea
· Plastic pollution has reached the North and South Poles, and the last pure land on Earth has been lost
· Plastic pollution produced by humans can ultimately damage their own health
· Microplastics trap bacteria and contain toxic chemicals that can cause irreversible damage to the human body
· Plastic waste has also been found in the Mariana Trench, the deepest part of the Earth, at 10,928 meters deep
· Every year, more than a million Marine creatures stop breathing because of plastic pollution
· By 2050, the combined weight of plastic waste in the oceans will exceed the total weight of fish
· According to a recent study by the University of Newcastle in Australia, the global average person ingests 5 grams of plastic in
their body every week, which is equivalent to the weight of a credit card
· As of November 25, 2018, there was an estimated 5.25 trillion pieces of plastic in the ocean, 92% of which was microplastics
· Plastic products may remain undegraded for centuries, scientists say.Plastic pollution crisis could lead to 'permanent pollution
of the planet