A new study by the University of Leeds has calculated that 52 million tonnes of plastic products entered the environment in 2020.
The study, published in the journal Nature, used AI to model waste management in more than 50,000 municipalities around the world, which allowed the University’s researchers to predict how much waste was generated globally and what happened to it.
The findings showed that over two-thirds of the planet’s plastic pollution comes from uncollected rubbish with almost 1.2 billion people – 15% of the global population – living without access to waste collection services.
In 2020, around 30 million tonnes of plastics – amounting to 57% of all plastic pollution – were burned without any environmental controls in place, the study found.
Dr Costas Velis, an academic on Resource Efficiency Systems from the School of Civil Engineering at Leeds, led the research.
He commented: “We need to start focusing much, much more on tackling open burning and uncollected waste before more lives are needlessly impacted by plastic pollution. It cannot be ‘out of sight, out of mind’.”
Researchers also used the model to identify plastic pollution hotspots, finding that India produced the most emissions – rather than China, as suggested in previous models.
According to the paper’s estimated global data for 2020, the largest amount of pollution is emitted in India, 9.3 million tonnes — around a fifth of the total amount; Nigeria, 3.5 million tonnes; and Indonesia, 3.4 million tonnes.
China is now the fourth largest emitter, with 2.8 million tonnes. The UK was ranked 135, with around 4,000 tonnes per year, with littering the biggest source.
Plastic pollution in the Global North vs Global South
The researchers believe the study shows access to waste collection should be seen as a basic necessity and a vital aspect of sanitation, alongside water and sewerage services.
The study found a “stark” contrast between plastic waste emissions from the Global North and the Global South.
Despite high plastic consumption, macroplastic pollution — pollution from plastic objects larger than 5 millimetres — is a comparatively small issue in the Global North, with littering as the main cause.
While many countries in Sub-Saharan Africa have generally low levels of plastic pollution, they average 12kg of plastic pollution per person per year – equivalent to over 400 plastic bottles.
The United Kingdom currently has the per-capita equivalent of less than three plastic bottles per person per year.
“Uncollected waste is the biggest source of plastic pollution.”
First author Dr Josh Cottom, Research Fellow in Plastics Pollution at Leeds, said: “Uncollected waste is the biggest source of plastic pollution, with at least 1.2 billion people living without waste collection services forced to ‘self-manage’ waste, often by dumping it on land, in rivers, or burning it in open fires.
“The health risks resulting from plastic pollution affect some of the world’s poorest communities, who are powerless to do anything about it.
“By improving basic solid waste management, we can both massively reduce plastic pollution and improve the lives of billions.”
