Annual production and volume of plastic waste doubled between 2000 and 2019, says an OECD report released today that warns of river and ocean pollution and carbon footprint.

In two decades, plastic volume growth has outpaced economic growth by almost 40%, with annual plastic production rising from 234 million tons in 2000 to 460 million tons in 2019, advances the information agency, Lusa.

The picture is presented today in the report "Global Plastics Outlook: Economic Drivers, Environmental Impacts and Policy Options", by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), which traces the evolution of the last 19 years.

Along with the increase in plastic production, the volume of plastic waste has also doubled, from 156 million tons in 2000 to 353 million tons in 2019.

The covid-19 pandemic and its impact on economic activity has put a pause on the upward trend in plastic use, which fell by 2.2% in 2020, but on the other hand, disposable plastic waste has increased.

This increase was on the one hand related to medical and personal protective equipment, but also to plastics used for 'take-away', which replaced restaurant visits, and 'online' shopping, which satisfied customers' needs while the stores were closed.

Once the first year of the pandemic is over, however, and the economy has begun to recover, the OECD anticipates that plastic use overall will increase again.

Against this global backdrop, the report mainly warns about the pollution of rivers and oceans and points out that in 2019 plastic accumulated in rivers totaled 109 million tons, of which 6.1 million tons ended up there that year alone.

In the oceans, the volume is lower, with an estimated 30 million tons. However, considering that much of the garbage that accumulates in rivers eventually ends up in the oceans, plastics are expected to continue to pollute aquatic environments for decades to come.

On the other hand, the report adds, cleaning up this waste becomes more difficult with each passing year, as the waste breaks down into smaller particles, giving rise to so-called microplastics.

According to the report's findings, the main source of plastic pollution stems from poor waste management of so-called macroplastics, which account for 88% of the 22 million tons of plastic materials that ended up in the environment in 2019 alone.

Source: Lusa