Key Facts
We can’t fix what we don’t see. The facts about plastic production, waste, and pollution are astonishing. When we throw out a plastic bottle, it doesn’t just disappear. It stays around for a very long time - years beyond our lifetime.
Learn about how plastic bottles are contributing to a worldwide environmental issue.
One million plastic bottles are purchased every minute around the world.
The U.S. is one of the top producing countries of plastic waste, selling 100.7 billion plastic bottles each year or an average of 315 bottles per person.
91% of the world’s plastic is not recycled, ending up in landfills or the ocean.
More than 60 million plastic bottles end up in landfills every single day.
A single plastic bottle can take up to 1000 years to decompose.
Compared to glass bottles, producing plastic bottles generates more than 100 times the toxic emissions to the air and water.
Plastic bottles left in landfills leak harmful chemicals into our soil and groundwater, which can cause serious health issues for humans and animals.
An estimated 8 million tons of plastic end up polluting the ocean every year, which is equivalent to a garbage truck of plastics being dumped into the ocean every minute.
By the year 2050, there will be more plastic than fish in our oceans.
Over time, a plastic bottle can break up into over 10,000 microplastic particles. These tiny pieces of plastic are being ingested by marine life and contaminating the seafood we consume.
