Waste plastic weighs same as ‘billion elephants’

PLASTIC weighing the equivalent of one billion elephants has been created since the 1950s and most of it has ended up in landfill, a new study has shown.

Researchers from the University of Georgia and the University of California found that by 2015 humans had generated 8.3 billion tons of plastics and 6.3 billion tons had become waste.

Only 9pc of the waste plastic was recycled, 12pc was incinerated and 79pc had accumulated in landfill or the natural environment. If current trends continue, roughly 12 billion tons of waste will be in landfills or polluting oceans by 2050.

“Most plastics don’t biodegrade in any meaningful sense, so the plastic waste humans have generated could be with us for hundreds or even thousands of years,” said Associate Professor Jenna Jambeck. “Our estimates underscore the need to think critically about the materials we use and our waste management practices.”

Researchers compiled production statistics for resins, fibres and additives from a variety of industry sources dating back to 1950 to calculate how much plastic had been created in the following 65 years.

Global production of plastics increased annually from two million metric tons in 1950 to over 400 million metric tons in 2015, according to the study, outgrowing most other man-made materials. Only steep and cement are more ubiquitous, but unlike the building materials which last for decades, most plastic is quickly discarded.

It follows a report that said by 2050 the world’s oceans are expected to contain more plastics than fish, by weight. (© Daily Telegraph London)