Do single-use plastic bans work?, BBC, 2022
- In 2018, we produced two billion tonnes of solid waste globally, of which 275 million tonnes was plastic. With the world population predicted to double by 2050, waste will increase by 70%.
- Globally, packaging is the largest source of plastic waste – and by some margin. In 2015, 141 million tonnes of plastic packaging waste was generated, compared to 42 million tonnes of plastic textile waste – which was the next largest sector.
- Some countries are able to recycle most of their plastic waste. Up to 56% is recycled in Germany, closely followed by Austria, South Korea and Wales. But the global picture is quite different – 15% of plastics go to recycling, but 40% of this waste is rejected for contamination or other issues, meaning only 9% of plastic waste is actually recycled. By contrast, metals can have an up to 100% recycle rate.
- Linda Gaines, an environmental scientist at Argonne National Laboratory in the US, and her late colleague Max Mintz found that although you can recycle glass indefinitely through melting, this process does not save a significant amount of energy compared with primary glass production – at best it saves 13% of the energy.