| Description: |
US scientists have calculated the total amount of plastic ever made and put the number at 8.3 billion tons. It is an astonishing mass of material that has essentially been created only in the last 65 years or so. The 8.3 billion tons is as heavy as 25,000 Empire State Buildings in New York, or a billion elephants. The great issue is that plastic items, like packaging, tend to be used for very short periods before being discarded. More than 70% of the total production is now in waste streams, sent largely to landfill - although too much of it just litters the wider environment, including the oceans. [Source: BBC News]
|
 |
