QUANTIFYING PLASTIC POLLUTION

Plastics enter the ocean through a variety of direct and indirect methods. These range from litter on the beach being washed into the ocean, to transportation of litter from the streets to the ocean through drainage networks. The vast amount of transportation methods which lead to plastic in the ocean results in an astonishing amount of plastics currently in the ocean. 
Currently, there is an estimated 8 million tonnes of plastic entering the ocean annually. This number is expected to double by 2030 and to quadruple by 2050. This rapid growth in the amount of plastic washing into the oceans is due to the increase in plastic usage over the past century. Global plastic production has increased from 15 million tonnes in 1964 to around 350 million tonnes in 2018.