Overview

Pollution is the most visible problem of the plastic crisis. Whether in rivers, on land, or in the ocean, enormous amounts of plastic waste are already polluting the entire planet.

Every year, approximately ten million tons of plastic waste end up in the ocean. ▶ Learn more about what plastic pollution is doing to our ocean.

Plastic is everywhere: in our air, water, soil, food, and bodies. Its persistence, derived from fossil fuels, brings both utility and harm. To address this issue, it's essential to understand the facts about plastic production and pollution.

We need regulation at the local, national, and global levels to implement drastic reductions in plastic production and consumption. ▶ Solutions must tackle plastic pollution at the source and prevent more plastic from entering the market.

Less than ten percent of all plastic ever produced has been recycled, indicating that recycling, whether mechanical or chemical, is not a solution to the plastic crisis. The only answer is to reduce plastic production. ▶ Facts about recycling plastic.

Plastic particles smaller than 5 mm are called microplastic. Microplastic pollutes ecosystems and is found in nearly all living beings. ▶ Facts on how microplastic originates and persists.

We live a throw-away lifestyle, and plastic made it possible. As a result, our planet is drowning in plastic waste. ▶ Learn more about how the plastic industry is driving the expansion of plastic production.

While recycling is not a solution to the plastic crisis, reuse is an essential tool in the fight against plastic pollution. It is a solution to reduce plastic production, to cut down waste, and to achieve climate targets.

The plastic industry and corporations are driving the expansion of plastic production and are the top plastic polluters worldwide. ▶ The plastic-producing petrochemical industry fuels the climate crisis and has disastrous impacts on communities and ecosystems worldwide.

Plastic pollution is not gender neutral. At oil and gas extraction sites, women and Black, Indigenous and People of Color lose their livelihoods. In factories, workers absorb endocrine-disrupting chemicals. In landfills in the Global South, those with the least power sort toxic waste with bare hands. The plastic crisis runs along the fault lines of gender and global inequality. The briefing presents feminist perspectives for a gender-just approach to the plastic crisis.