Ahead of the 2025 World Environment Day Coming up on June 5

Plastic pollution has being a pain in the neck globally as it finds it is way to all the Environmental media, it affects life in water, life on land, even in human bodies in form of microplastics.

There has been global campaign to recycle and re-use single use plastic in other to reduce the devastating impact associated with them.

The numbers aren't going down, the united nations Environment program published the statistics on Plastic pollution ahead of the world Environment day 2025 that will be hosted in Jeju island, Korea on June 5.

The statistics are given below;

Global consumption and production

In 2025, the world is expected to consume 516 million tonnes of plastics.

By 2060, annual global plastic consumption is forecast to reach over 1.2 billion tonnes.

Environmental impact

Plastic pollution is present everywhere, from the Mariana Trench (deepest ocean point) to Mount Everest (highest mountain peak).

An estimated 11 million tonnes of plastics leak into aquatic ecosystems each year.

Around 13 million tonnes of plastics accumulate into the soil annually.

Health impact

Plastics break down into microplastics and nanoplastics, which can enter the food chain and cause adverse health impacts.

Microplastics have been found in human arteries, lungs, brains—and even in breast milk.

Recycling alone is not enough

It is estimated that only 21 per cent of plastic today is economically recyclable, meaning that the value of the recycled material is high enough to cover the cost of collecting, sorting, and processing it.

Only 9 per cent of all plastics produced are actually being recycled globally.

A circular economy for plastics as a way forward

A comprehensive circular economy approach could reduce the volume of plastics entering our ocean by over 80 per cent and save governments US$70 billion between 2021-2040.

This shows the depth of the problem and the need for for global leaders to join forces in eliminating single use plastics.

How do you plan to contribute to the fight against plastic Pollution?, Share your thoughts in the comments.

Photo Credit: Meta AI

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