By 2040, one truck of plastic garbage will be thrown away every second, report says unless we act now
It is estimated that by 2040, approximately 280 million metric tons of plastic waste will enter the air, water, soil and human body each year, data shows.
Based on current production projections, plastic waste is expected to double by 2040.
Right now, it is estimated that 130 million metric tons of plastic waste enters the air, water, soil, and human body each year. By 2040, that figure will increase to 280 million metric tons, about the value of a garbage truck every second, according to one study. New report from The Pew Charitable Trusts.
That estimate is higher than the group’s previous prediction for 2020, thanks largely to new data that incorporates plastics used in construction, transportation and agriculture, not just packaging and textiles.
Scientists are becoming clearer about the environmental and health costs of plastic, with small fragments of the material found in the most remote places on Earth and inside our brains. Chemicals used in plastics have been linked to cancer, cardiovascular disease, and decreased fertility, among other health problems. Health costs from these chemicals are likely to reach $1.5 trillion globally, according to the Pew report.
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Current estimates of plastic production would produce waste that would overwhelm existing management systems, according to the report, especially because very little plastic is actually recycled.
The report comes months after a global effort to establish a treaty regulating plastic production and waste collapsed, as the chemical and oil and gas industries pushed hard to limit plastic production. Fossil fuel companies have sought to convert more of their products into plastic as the world stops burning these fuels to limit global warming.
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