Upward of 57 million tons of plastic pollution ends up in the environment each year, the majority of which comes from uncollected and unmanaged waste, new research found.
Researchers at the University of Leeds reached that number by examining over 50,000 municipalities across the globe and using artificial intelligence to create what they called the “first ever global plastics pollution inventory.” Their study, released Wednesday in Nature, looked specifically at pollution from plastics measuring over 5 millimeters.
Researchers specifically excluded plastics that end up in landfills from the study.
The study also found that the source of plastic pollution differs across countries of different income level. High-income countries produce plenty of plastic, but most of it is collected and disposed of — meaning the majority of plastic pollution in those countries comes from litter. Meanwhile, in low- and medium-income countries predominantly, plastic pollution comes mostly from improper waste collection or lack of collection entirely.
