World Faces Severe Plastic Waste Crisis, Reveals New Study

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): The latest report published by researchers from Statista says that European countries together recycles only less than a third of their plastic waste. The biggest contributors to discarded plastic waste are single-use plastics and packaging, such as plastic carrier bags and drink bottles.

According to the report, Europe produces approximately 60 million tons of plastic. Out of this, only 30% gets recycled, despite strict measures by the European Environmental Agency (EEA) on reducing plastic waste. In terms of waste treatment, a large difference exists between the regional countries. In Germany, only 0.1% of plastic packaging ends up in landfills each year. On the contrary, Spain trails behind, with almost 38.2% of the plastic waste ending up in landfills.

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The report by the Hamburg-based research firm notes that the world is currently encountering severe plastic waste crisis. The worldwide plastic production now totals approximately 348 million tons, as compared with 1.5 million tons in 1950.