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A study reported that around 8.3 billion tons of plastic, which is equivalent to the weight of one billion elephants, have been generated worldwide.
Researchers from the University of California and the University of Georgia conducted the first global study on the production, use, and disposal of plastic since the 1950s.
From a yearly production of two million tons of plastic in the 1950s, the number increased to 400 million tons in 2015. Roughly 80% of it has been disposed of in landfills and in other areas such as the seas and the countryside. Around 12% has been incinerated, while only 9% has been recycled.
According to environmentalists, 12 billion tons of plastic will be accumulated by 2050 if this trend continues. They emphasized that this issue may lead to an environmental crisis as serious as climate change.
With the growing concern over plastic waste, another group of researchers from the University of Tasmania and the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds examined an uninhabited island covered with plastic waste. They estimated that in addition to the 38 million pieces of plastic debris already on the island, 13,000 pieces are washed up on the island daily.
Another detrimental effect of plastic wastes is seen in marine life and seabirds. In a research done by Plymouth University, it was found that a third of fish and shellfish have ingested plastic. Another study conducted by research scientist Chris Wilcox shows that nearly all sea birds have ingested plastic. He reported that this rate is steadily upsurging as plastic production increases.