Today, April 22, is Earth Day. This year’s theme is ending plastic pollution.
The world produces vast amounts of plastic: more than 450 million tonnes yearly. But when it comes to plastics leaking into our rivers and oceans, it’s the management of plastics — not their production or use — that matters most.
When plastic is not correctly recycled, incinerated, or stored in sealed landfills, it can pollute the environment. According to the OECD Global Plastics Outlook, around one-fifth of the world’s plastic waste is mismanaged in this way.
As this map shows, mismanaged plastic waste per person tends to be higher in low-to-middle-income countries. This is because their plastic use has increased much faster than their investments in waste management infrastructure. (These estimates come from research by Lourens Meijer and colleagues.)
To end plastic pollution, improvements in waste management — alongside more responsible use of plastics — will be critical. Domestic policies will be crucial, but richer countries can also contribute through foreign investments in waste management infrastructure.
