The amount of plastic waste
produced since the 1950's,
as it has not been burned or recycled
is around 4.9 billion tons.
This could all have been dumped into a 17 meter
deep landfill, the size of Manhattan.
While much of it has indeed ended up in landfill
around the world, far too much of it has found
it's way into the natural environment.
With around 10 million tons a year ending up in the ocean.
Over half of all plastic is used
just once and then thrown away.
Taking hundreds of years to decompose.
Apart from the preception that plastic waste
is ugly and unnatural,
it has also been known to harm marine animals.
And exposed to salt water and sunlight it can
fragment into micro plastics,
which some people fear can poison sea life
and humans who subsequently consume it.
But is it as big an environmental problem
as the plastic panic across the rich worlds suggests.
Plastics account for just 10% of the 1.3 billion tons
of waste produced globally every year.
Air pollution is blamed for seven million deaths
per year world wide.
Ocean acidification, the results of man made
carbon dioxide omissions, is disastrous for coral reefs
and many other forms of sea life.
In any case, efforts are being made to improve the situation
or at least lessen the impact of plastic.
In 2008 Rwanda introduced strict laws
banning plastic bags and many countries
have since followed with similar initiatives.
In December 2017, 193 countries committed to a UN plan
to stop plastic waste entering the ocean.
To eliminate plastic waste reaching the natural
environment, it must first be collected.
In developed countries, virtually all of it tis.
But five countries in Asia are dumping more plastic
into the oceans than the rest of the world combined.
If the world wants to tackle plastic pollution,
then it should first concentrate it's efforts
on the biggest culprits in Southeast Asia.
Until it does all other efforts will be a drop in the ocean.