Currently, an estimated 1.3 million metric tons of microplastics from tire dust, pellets, textiles, and personal care products leaks into the world's oceans annually. Under a business-as-usual scenario*, ocean pollution from these microplastic sources will increase to three million metric tons per year by 2040. Terrestrial pollution from these four sources of microplastics is also projected to increase by 2040, to seven million metric tons. The amount of microplastics incinerated or sent to sanitary landfills is considerably less than the amount leaks into the environment.
Managed and mismanaged microplastics worldwide in 2016 with a forecast to 2040 under business-as-usual scenario
(in million metric tons)
*Mismanaged microplastics. Business-as-Usual assumes no intervention is made in relation to current plastic-related policy, economics, infrastructure, or materials, and that cultural norms and consumer behaviors do not change.
Microplastics from the following four sources: tire dust, pellets, textiles, and personal care products.
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Pew Charitable Trusts. (October 23, 2020). Managed and mismanaged microplastics worldwide in 2016 with a forecast to 2040 under business-as-usual scenario (in million metric tons) [Graph]. In Statista. Retrieved January 05, 2025, from https://www.statista.com/statistics/1270661/microplastic-pollution-projections-worldwide/
Pew Charitable Trusts. "Managed and mismanaged microplastics worldwide in 2016 with a forecast to 2040 under business-as-usual scenario (in million metric tons)." Chart. October 23, 2020. Statista. Accessed January 05, 2025. https://www.statista.com/statistics/1270661/microplastic-pollution-projections-worldwide/
Pew Charitable Trusts. (2020). Managed and mismanaged microplastics worldwide in 2016 with a forecast to 2040 under business-as-usual scenario (in million metric tons). Statista. Statista Inc.. Accessed: January 05, 2025. https://www.statista.com/statistics/1270661/microplastic-pollution-projections-worldwide/
Pew Charitable Trusts. "Managed and Mismanaged Microplastics Worldwide in 2016 with a Forecast to 2040 under Business-as-usual Scenario (in Million Metric Tons)." Statista, Statista Inc., 23 Oct 2020, https://www.statista.com/statistics/1270661/microplastic-pollution-projections-worldwide/
Pew Charitable Trusts, Managed and mismanaged microplastics worldwide in 2016 with a forecast to 2040 under business-as-usual scenario (in million metric tons) Statista, https://www.statista.com/statistics/1270661/microplastic-pollution-projections-worldwide/ (last visited January 05, 2025)
Managed and mismanaged microplastics worldwide in 2016 with a forecast to 2040 under business-as-usual scenario (in million metric tons) [Graph], Pew Charitable Trusts, October 23, 2020. [Online]. Available: https://www.statista.com/statistics/1270661/microplastic-pollution-projections-worldwide/
