Plastic is interlaced with nearly every aspect of human life through products ranging from shopping bags and food packages to car parts and cellphones. But plastic that enters the ocean can remain there for hundreds of years, breaking down into ever smaller pieces that are nearly impossible to remove.
Plastic debris is deadly to marine life with millions of fish, seabirds, and mammals either mistaking it for food and starving as it fills their stomachs or becoming entangled in it and drowning each year. And as plastic material in the ocean breaks down into smaller and smaller pieces, known as microplastics, it can release toxic chemicals that harm the growth, health, and survival of animals, plants, and people.
As of 2017, factories throughout the world had produced 8.3 billion metric tons of plastic, and only 9% of that total had been recycled. Plastic packaging and other single-use items become waste immediately after use and often escape into the environment, accounting for 61% of the litter scattered across beaches. In fact, plastic waste is found in just about every corner of the ocean, including on remote islands, at the North and South poles, and even on the deep seafloor.
To reduce the amount of plastic entering the environment, The Pew Charitable Trusts works with governments, industry, scientists, nongovernmental organizations, and other groups to better understand this global problem and implement impactfulsolutions throughout the plastic life cycle, from production to disposal, including:
- Fostering increased private sector accountability and transparency by strengthening and expanding a voluntary plastic disclosure and reporting system.
- Collaborating on ambitious measures in the European Union to reduce microplastic pollution from tires, pellets, and textiles.
- Publishing new research on the sources and global magnitude of microplastic pollution.
- Updating Pew’s pioneering “Breaking the Plastic Wave” report to assess progress since its 2020 release and to drive science-based government policies and corporate action to stop plastic pollution.
- Working in the United States to identify and support viable and impactful plastics policies based on the latest research.
- Supporting local partners in countries around the world in developing strong, enforceable, and locally relevant policies to turn back the tide on ocean plastic pollution.
