How much plastic gets recycled?

Results of a new study from the University of Georgia, published in Science Advances.

Guess what percentage of plastic gets recycled? The authors say only 9% of all plastic is recycled! Of the other 91%, some is incinerated but most of it goes to landfills and into the oceans!

Other results of the study:

• humans have produced 8.3 billion metric tons of plastic since the 1950s

• plastic takes more than 400 years to degrade

• 8 million metric tons of garbage ends up in the ocean every year

Article in National Geographic: http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2017/07/plastic-produced-recycling-waste-ocean-trash-debris-environment/