Plastic production has exploded, rising from 2 million tonnes in 1950 to 460 million tonnes in 2019, generating 353 million tonnes of waste, of which less than 10% is currently recycled and 22% is abandoned in uncontrolled landfills, burnt in open fires or released into the environment, according to the latest OECD estimates. The impacts of plastic production and pollution on the triple global crisis of climate change, biodiversity collapse and pollution threaten the world.
