Track your personal plastic waste and its final destination.
The average person generates 53 kg of plastic waste per year in developed countries. Globally, 380 million tonnes of plastic are produced annually, and production has doubled every 11 years since 1950. Only 9% of all plastic ever produced has been recycled, 12% incinerated, and 79% accumulated in landfills or nature. A single plastic bottle (25 g PET) takes 450 years to decompose. Takeout containers (30 g polystyrene) may never fully biodegrade, breaking into ever-smaller microplastics. Microplastics have been found in human blood, lungs, placentas, and breast milk. The Great Pacific Garbage Patch contains 80,000 tonnes of plastic spanning 1.6 million km². Single-use plastics represent 40% of production but are used for an average of only 12 minutes. Reducing the top 4 sources (bottles, bags, food packaging, straws/cups) can cut personal plastic waste by 40-60%.