Plastic Facts

1. Less than 4% of plastic is recycled.

2. Because it’s durable and light-weight, plastic debris can be brown or washed into a storm drain and travels over long distance and accumulates in the ocean.

3. 80% of plastic debris in the oceans comes from land and our watersheds.

4. Estimates of Plastic in the world’s oceans exceed 100 million tons.

5. Plastic does not biodegrade. It photodegrades in the ocean by exposed to UV radiation from sunlight. It is estimated that it could take 500 years to photodegrade.

6. Over 100,000 marine mammals are killed by ingesting or trapped by plastic every year.

7. Over 80 species of seabirds have been found to ingest plastic.

8. Plastic release chemical additives and plasticizers into the ocean.

9. Plastic absorbs toxins such as PCBs and DDT.

10. Toxins in plastic enter the food chain and cause illness.

11. The Great Pacific Garbage Patch is agyre of plastic in the central North Pacific Ocean and estimated to be twice the size of Texas.