Campaigners are calling for action to reduce production and boost recycling as the world reaches Plastic Overshoot Day.
The landmark date falls on September 5 this year, marking the moment humanity’s plastic waste surpasses the capability of waste management systems to handle it for the given year.
This means the point where plastic waste will not be well managed during the 117 days left in 2024, with each country contributing to a portion of the overshoot, including the UK.
This year marks Earth Action’s second global Plastic Overshoot Day, with the organisation saying 220 million tonnes of plastic waste will be created in 2024.
Of this, nearly 70 million tons will end up in nature due to imbalance between the volumes of plastics consumed and the capacity to manage the plastic at the end of its life, the researchers added.
They also estimated that each person on the planet will on average generate 28kg of plastic waste and that there has been a steady rise in total plastic waste of 7% since 2021.
The UK’s individual Plastic Overshoot Day is set to land much later on December 8, according to the organisation – meaning plastic will be poorly managed for a matter of weeks in the country.
However, this contrasts with many developing countries some of which marked their overshoot days in January and February, including Eritrea, Senegal, Sri Lanka, Pakistan and Egypt.
The Earth Action researchers found that two-thirds (66%) of the global population now live in areas where plastic waste already exceeds the waste management capacity.
Meanwhile, 12 countries are responsible for 60% of the world’s mismanaged plastic waste – the top five being China, Russian Federation, India, Brazil, and Mexico.
Sarah Perreard, co-chief executive at Earth Action & Plastic Footprint Network, said: “Plastic Overshoot Day should serve both as a testament to our current trajectory and as a blueprint for necessary action.
“The decisions made today will echo through ecosystems and economies for generations.
“A business-as-usual approach to solving the plastic crisis will only worsen its effects.”
“The necessity for change is founded in the need to protect the environment and our health, but the risk of inaction to business is often overlooked – profit as well as the planet will be victim of this crisis,” she added.
It comes ahead of the final round of UN negotiations to develop and internationally legally-binding treaty on plastic pollution, which will take place in November in the Republic of Korea
The UN Global Plastics Treaty will represent the world’s first comprehensive effort to regulate plastic with objectives like curtailing plastic production, introducing recycling targets and banning specific chemicals.
During negotiations so far, some stakeholders have sought to water down agreements on reducing plastic production, which would likely hit the global industry.
Earth Action warned that despite an improvement in plastic waste management practices, the overall quantity of mismanaged plastic waste remains almost unchanged due to increasing production each year.
It argued that this shows the notion that recycling will solve the plastics crisis without reducing the amount of plastic made each year is flawed.
Nicolas Rochat, founder at Mover Plastic Free Sportswear, said: “Continuing down this path of uninhibited plastic production is unconscionable and threatens the prosperity of both businesses and humankind.
“So-called solutions such as recycling plastics will only increase the physical and chemical plastic pollution.
“It’s time to move beyond temporary fixes and invest in innovative, non-polluting alternatives across supply chains that will futureproof us against impending catastrophe.”
