The world's oceans will soon contain more plastic than fish
There might be plenty of fish in the sea, but soon there will be even more plastic. The World Economic Forum revealed Tuesday that if plastic consumption and production continues at current rates, the world's oceans will contain more plastic than fish in terms of weight by 2050.
The World Economic Forum predicts plastic production will increase threefold to 1,124 million tons over the next 34 years. Plastic's use, which has grown 20-fold in the last 50 years, is expected to double yet again in the next 20 years.
The big problem with this boom, the World Economic Forum says, is the shockingly low percentage of plastic that gets recycled. Plastic packaging gets recycled only 14 percent of the time, translating to annual economic losses from tossed plastic packaging between $80 billion to $120 billion.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
The economy isn't all that's suffering, either: Almost a third of plastic that goes unrecycled ultimately escapes landfills.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
Dive right into these 8 underwater adventuresThe Week Recommends It’s time to make a splash
-
The world’s oldest rock art reveals hints about human migrationUnder the Radar The art is believed to be over 67,000 years old
-
Grok in the crosshairs as EU launches deepfake porn probeIN THE SPOTLIGHT The European Union has officially begun investigating Elon Musk’s proprietary AI, as regulators zero in on Grok’s porn problem and its impact continent-wide
-
Israel retrieves final hostage’s body from GazaSpeed Read The 24-year-old police officer was killed during the initial Hamas attack
-
China’s Xi targets top general in growing purgeSpeed Read Zhang Youxia is being investigated over ‘grave violations’ of the law
-
Panama and Canada are negotiating over a crucial copper mineIn the Spotlight Panama is set to make a final decision on the mine this summer
-
Why Greenland’s natural resources are nearly impossible to mineThe Explainer The country’s natural landscape makes the task extremely difficult
-
Iran cuts internet as protests escalateSpeed Reada Government buildings across the country have been set on fire
-
US nabs ‘shadow’ tanker claimed by RussiaSpeed Read The ship was one of two vessels seized by the US military
-
Maduro pleads not guilty in first US court hearingSpeed Read Deposed Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores pleaded not guilty to cocaine trafficking and narco-terrorism conspiracy
-
Iran’s government rocked by protestsSpeed Read The death toll from protests sparked by the collapse of Iran’s currency has reached at least 19