Plastic production uses 8% of all the world's oil production. At the current rate the world produces 200 million tons of plastic a year. Less the 3.5% is recycled. Or in other words, 96 % of all the worlds plastic is not recycled.
The world produces between 500 billion to 1.2 trillion plastic bags a year. That averages out somewhere between 290-300 plastic bags used per person per year in the UK. Excess packaging costs the average UK family about £470 a year. An estimated 17 billion plastic bags are given away annually by United Kingdom supermarkets - enough plastic to cover an area the size of London, Liverpool, Manchester, Newcastle and west Yorkshire (Parliament.UK) (London.gov.uk)
Once an animals dies from either entanglement or plastic ingestion, their bodies decompose and the plastic is released back into the environment where it can kill again.
The world produces between 500 billion to 1.2 trillion plastic bags a year. That averages out somewhere between 290-300 plastic bags used per person per year in the UK. Excess packaging costs the average UK family about £470 a year. An estimated 17 billion plastic bags are given away annually by United Kingdom supermarkets - enough plastic to cover an area the size of London, Liverpool, Manchester, Newcastle and west Yorkshire (Parliament.UK) (London.gov.uk)
Once an animals dies from either entanglement or plastic ingestion, their bodies decompose and the plastic is released back into the environment where it can kill again.
A Minke Whale was washed up dead on the Normandy coast. Cause of death? The animals' stomach was full of plastic bags, and throwaway plastic packaging. Some of the bags could be identified as coming from British high street shops.
Many nations have already either completely banned them, or discouraged their use through tax levies or made it that you have to buy them at the checkout. This list is growing fast.
Plasticizers (added to plastic to make it flexible) leach out when they come into contact with food or drink. Some of these plasticizers are now known to cause cancer.
Marine plastic works much like a sponge and collects other chemicals that have entered the marine environment through use and disposal over the years. The group name for these chemicals is persistent organic pollutants chemicals that take decades to breakdown, such as chlordane, PCB, DDT, and DDE to name a few, but heavy metals such as mercury, zinc and lead are also known to attach themselves to marine plastic. Many of these pesticides, insecticides, fire-retardants and herbicides have now been outright banned in several countries including the UK because they are dangerous human health hazards, however they are still in the marine environment.
