Scientists from several American universities have calculated how much plastic has produced humanity in the whole history, how much of it is processed and how much plastic will appear on the planet in the near future if its consumption does not hold back.

Plastic decomposes for hundreds of years, so it causes great damage to the environment, accumulating in it. However, there is not much reliable data on the scale of the disaster.

In the new study, experts calculated the total number of different types of plastic produced by mankind. For 50-60 years since the mass release in the middle of last century, people produced about 8.3 billion tons, with half of this amount produced in the last 13 years. Biodegradable plastics for all time produced only four million tons, which is 2075 times less. The authors of the study excluded them from further analysis.

As of 2015, there were about 63 billion tons of plastic waste. Of these, 79% are in landfills or simply in the natural environment, 12% are burned and only 9% are recycled. The leaders in the processing of plastic – Europe and China: there are reused about 30 and 25% of plastic waste, respectively.

In their study, environmentalists used statistical data on the production, use and disposal of various types of plastics. These are thermoplastics, thermosets, polyurethane, elastomers, sealants, etc. Particular attention is paid to high and low density polyethylene, polypropylene, polystyrene, polyvinyl chloride, polyurethane resins and polyester, polyamide and acrylic fibers.

Scientists warn: if current trends in plastic production and waste management continue, by 2050, 12 billion tons will be in landfills and in the natural environment. This is approximately 35,000 times the weight of the Empire State Building in New York. The same amount will be burned and only 9 billion tons – processed.

The authors conclude that without a well-conceived strategy for dealing with plastic waste, humanity, in fact, is conducting an uncontrolled experiment on a global scale: billions of tons of plastic will accumulate in all the ecosystems of the planet, leading to unpredictable consequences in the long term.

The article with the results of the study is published in the journal Science Advances.

“Attic” repeatedly told about the problem of plastic waste. So, recently it turned out that they literally swamped one of the most remote from the civilization of the islands – Henderson, and plastic from the North Atlantic with the ocean current enters the Arctic, where probably hundreds of tons of garbage have already accumulated.