8.3 BILLION METRIC TONS. That's how much plastic humanity has produced thus far, according to a study published in July in Science Advances. Of that, nearly 80 percent has been thrown out (as opposed to recycled or burned), which means over 6 billion tons of plastic waste is strewn about our planet. A portion of it ends up in the ocean, where it can float for years or wash ashore on pristine islands. One remote South Pacific island had accumulated an estimated 38 million pieces of plastic trash as of 2015. Here's a breakdown of how we use plastics and where they end up.
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