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.