The United States Produces More Plastic Waste Than Any Country In The European Union

They are the plastic champions. The United States produced 42 million tonnes of plastic waste in 2016 ... twice as much as China, and even more than all countries in the European Union combined.

Yet the  United States  constitutes only 5% of the world population. This observation is made by a new study from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine published on December 1. This is an “environmental and social crisis”, underlined Margaret Spring, chair of the expert committee. 

On average, an American produces 130 kilograms of plastic waste per year. The United Kingdom is in second place in the world ranking, with 98 kilos. By way of comparison, the French generate 43 kilos of plastic waste per year and per person. 

9% Of The World's Plastic Recycled

These figures are all the more problematic as only 9% of the world's plastic is recycled, according to the environmental NGO Greenpeace. The rest usually ends up in the ocean. Waste that pollutes the seabed and is ingested by fish, turtles and other species, leading to their death and reproductive problems. 

According to the Academies report, 8.8 million tonnes of plastic waste is dumped into the ocean each year. This is equivalent to a garbage truck being dumped into the sea every minute. 

More worryingly, the waste tends to break down into small particles, or microplastics. These are found in the air, soil, tap water ... They are inhaled by humans and their effects on health are still unknown. 

In an attempt to reduce the number of plastic waste, the report asked the United States to develop a national strategy by the end of 2022. It proposes, for example, to introduce a limit on the production of non-recycled plastic, and to better collect data on this topic.