10 Surprising Facts About How Much Plastic We Use

FACT #1

More than 480 billion plastic bottles were sold worldwide in 2016. That is up from about 300 billion only a decade ago.

FACT #2

About one trillion single-use plastic bags are used annually across the globe. That’s nearly 2 million every minute.

FACT #3

More than half a billion plastic straws are used every day around the world.

FACT #4

Over half of the world’s plastic thrown out in 2015 was plastic packaging. That’s over 141 million metric tons.

FACT #5

Takeout orders account for around 269,000 US tons of plastic waste that has entered the oceans.

FACT #6

The amount of bubble wrap that is produced annually is enough to wrap around the Equator ten times.

FACT #7

The world uses 500 billion plastic cups every year.

FACT #8

16 billion disposable coffee cups are used each year. These are coated with plastic to laminate the inside and use plastic lids.

FACT #9

The world produces more than 14 million US tons of polystyrene (plastic foam) each year. Americans alone throw away around 25 billion Styrofoam cups every year.

FACT #10

Around the world, people litter more than 4.5 trillion cigarette butts every year.