Green
Visualizing Mismanaged Plastic Waste by Country
Visualizing Mismanaged Plastic Waste by Country
Plastic is one of the most useful materials around, but its proliferating use has created a ballooning heap of plastic waste, with more than 350 million tonnes generated each year.
Only a fraction of plastic waste is recycled, and about one-fifth ends up in the mismanaged category, meaning that it is dumped or littered without proper waste management practices. Mismanaged plastic waste threatens the land and marine environments, and most of it doesn’t decompose, polluting the environment for hundreds of years.
The above infographic visualizes the largest contributors of mismanaged plastic waste in 2019, based on data from a study by Meijer et al. published in the Science Advances journal.
The Largest Contributors of Mismanaged Plastic Waste
Asian countries account for the majority of global mismanaged plastic waste (MPW), and many of the top plastic-emitting rivers are concentrated in the region.
India and China are the only countries to account for over 10 million tonnes of MPW, although that could partly be driven by their sheer population numbers.
| Country/Region | MPW created in 2019 (tonnes) | % of total |
|---|---|---|
| India 🇮🇳 | 12,994,100 | 21% |
| China 🇨🇳 | 12,272,200 | 20% |
| Philippines 🇵🇭 | 4,025,300 | 7% |
| Brazil 🇧🇷 | 3,296,700 | 5% |
| Nigeria 🇳🇬 | 1,948,950 | 3% |
| North America 🌎 | 1,927,484 | 3% |
| Tanzania 🇹🇿 | 1,716,400 | 3% |
| Turkey 🇹🇷 | 1,656,110 | 3% |
| Egypt 🇪🇬 | 1,435,510 | 2% |
| DR Congo 🇨🇩 | 1,369,730 | 2% |
| Thailand 🇹🇭 | 1,361,690 | 2% |
| Pakistan 🇵🇰 | 1,346,460 | 2% |
| Europe 🌍 | 1,179,881 | 2% |
| Vietnam 🇻🇳 | 1,112,790 | 2% |
| Bangladesh 🇧🇩 | 1,021,990 | 2% |
| Indonesia 🇮🇩 | 824,234 | 1% |
| Malaysia 🇲🇾 | 814,454 | 1% |
| Sudan 🇸🇩 | 781,625 | 1% |
| Algeria 🇩🇿 | 764,578 | 1% |
| South Africa 🇿🇦 | 708,467 | 1% |
| Venezuela 🇻🇪 | 671,431 | 1% |
| Cameroon 🇨🇲 | 578,798 | 1% |
| Oceania 🌎 | 136,506 | 0.2% |
| Other 🗺 | 7,828,312 | 13% |
| Total | 61,773,700 | 100% |
Generally, the top countries in the above table are developing economies that tend to have inadequate waste management infrastructure.
The Philippines is the third-largest contributor and accounts for 37% of all MPW released into the ocean at over 350,000 tonnes per year. Solid waste management remains a major environmental issue in the Philippines. The country recently closed down 335 illegal dumpsites to encourage the use of sanitary landfills and proper waste segregation.
The three continents of North America, Europe, and Oceania together account for just 5% of global mismanaged plastic waste. However, it’s important to note that these figures do not reflect the amount of waste that is exported overseas, and many rich nations are known to export some portions of their waste to poorer nations.
The State of Plastic Waste Trade
In 2019, the Philippines famously shipped back 69 containers of dumped garbage back to Canada, joining other nations in rejecting waste from rich countries.
Until 2017, China was the largest importer of overseas plastic waste, accounting for roughly 50% of global plastic waste imports. Then, it imposed an import ban on almost all types of plastic waste, resulting in a decline in the overall global plastic scrap trade.
In 2021, global plastic waste imports were just over one-third of 2017 levels. However, countries including Malaysia, Indonesia, and Vietnam have been importing more plastic waste since China’s ban, slightly offsetting the impact.
Mismanaged Plastic Waste Per Capita
On a per capita basis, the archipelago of Comoros in East Africa tops the list. Its per capita MPW is equivalent to over 4,500 empty 500ml plastic bottles per person, per year.
| Country | MPW per capita | GDP per capita (2021, current US$) |
|---|---|---|
| Comoros 🇰🇲 | 150lbs (68kg) | $1,495 |
| Trinidad and Tobago 🇹🇹 | 115lbs (52kg) | $15,243 |
| Suriname 🇸🇷 | 86lbs (39kg) | $4,836 |
| Philippines 🇵🇭 | 81lbs (37kg) | $3,549 |
| Zimbabwe 🇿🇼 | 78lbs (35kg) | $1,737 |
While there isn’t much information available on waste management in Comoros, it is one of the world’s least-developed nations. In fact, household consumption accounts for almost 100% of its annual gross domestic product.
Trinidad and Tobago is an outlier due to its high-income status, but a lack of waste segregation among households, alongside inefficient waste management systems, contributes to its high per capita figure.
The Impact of Plastic Waste
Plastic waste has various negative implications for the environment, especially as it can take hundreds of years to decompose.
Millions of tonnes of plastic waste flows into the oceans every year, accounting for at least 85% of all marine garbage. This poses a major threat to aquatic life because fish and other organisms can get entangled in plastic waste and ingest plastics.
On land, plastic waste threatens the quality of the soil and its surrounding ecosystem. Additionally, burning plastic waste releases toxic particles that have a detrimental impact on air quality.
If current trends continue, over 12 billion tonnes of plastic waste is expected to end up in landfills by 2050. Although recycling rates are expected to improve, increasing the availability of adequate waste management systems will be important in preventing plastic waste from entering the environment.
Environment
The Biggest Carbon Emitters, By Sector
The manufacturing and construction sector contributed to 6.3 billion tonnes of global greenhouse gas emissions in 2019.
The Biggest Carbon Emitters, By Sector
It’s no secret that greenhouse gas emissions need to decrease drastically in order to fight the effects of climate change.
As countries across the globe ramp up efforts to reduce global warming, every industry needs to do its part. So who’s lagging and who’s leading?
Although often less discussed, the manufacturing and construction sector is a large contributor to global greenhouse gas emissions.
The above graphic from Northstar Clean Technologies takes a look at the biggest contributors by sector in relation to greenhouse gas emissions.
Breakdown Of Emissions
The manufacturing and construction sector is a growing one, and as population and infrastructure expand, it’s vital that we take all actionable paths to reduce emissions.
Manufacturing and construction contributed to 6.3 billion tonnes of global greenhouse gas emissions in 2019. Let’s look at the breakdown of greenhouse gas emissions by sector over the years from Our World In Data.
In 2019 electricity and heat were the biggest carbon emitters, while transport came in second place.
Manufacturing and construction overtook the agriculture sector in 2007 to become the third largest contributor to global greenhouse gas emissions.
Building a Solution
One solution to reducing the impact of the manufacturing and construction sector is to repurpose materials. This reduces emissions and waste while also being both energy and cost-efficient.
Take a material like asphalt shingles as an example. This product is found on the roofs of approximately 75% of single-family detached homes in the U.S. and Canada.
In 2018, 86% of total asphalt shingles waste was dumped in landfills where they do not decompose or biodegrade. Reusing and recycling existing materials like asphalt shingles is a vital step in reducing greenhouse gas emissions in the industry.
Northstar Clean Technologies repurposes the three primary components of asphalt shingles which are then recycled back into the market.
By reprocessing asphalt shingles into three primary components, Northstar’s clean technology has been shown to reduce CO₂ emissions by 60% compared to virgin production of liquid asphalt.
Click to learn how Northstar Clean Technologies is becoming one of the top material recovery providers in North America.
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Mapped: Carbon Dioxide Emissions Around the World
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Mapped: Carbon Dioxide Emissions Around the World
According to Our World in Data, the global population emits about 34 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO₂) each year.
Where does all this CO₂ come from? This graphic by Adam Symington maps out carbon emissions around the world, using 2018 data from the European Commission that tracks tonnes of CO₂ per 0.1 degree grid (roughly 11 square kilometers).
This type of visualization allows us to clearly see not just population centers, but flight paths, shipping lanes, and high production areas. Let’s take a closer look at some of these concentrated (and brightly lit) regions on the map.
China, India, and the Indian Ocean
As the two most populated countries and economic forces, China and India are both significant emitters of CO₂. China in particular accounts for about 27% of global CO₂ emissions.
And looking at the oceans, we see how much shipping adds to emissions, with many shipping lanes east of China clearly outlined as well as the major Indian Ocean lane between the Strait of Malacca and the Suez Canal.
The United States and Central America
The United States is one of the world’s biggest carbon emitters. While other countries like Qatar and Saudi Arabia technically have higher emissions per capita, their overall emissions are relatively low due to smaller populations.
Across the U.S., the most brightly lit areas are major population centers like the Boston-Washington corridor, the Bay Area, and the Great Lakes. But also lit up are many of the interconnecting highways linking all these population centers, even in the less-populated middle of the country.
With so much traffic in and out of the U.S., the oceans become a murky mix of shipping and flight paths. To the south, very clearly visible is the major concentration of people around Mexico City and the traffic flowing through the Panama Canal.
South America’s Network of Emissions
Like the other regions, some of South America’s most populated areas are also the biggest emitters, such as São Paulo and Rio in Brazil and Buenos Aires in Argentina. This map also highlights the continent’s rough terrain, with most of the population and highway emissions limited to the coasts.
However, the cities aren’t the only big emitters in the region. There are clear lines intersecting the Amazon forest in many sections where cities and roads were constructed, including the economic hub city of Manaus along the Amazon River. Likewise, the oceans have many major shipping lanes highlighted, particularly East of Brazil.
Europe and North Africa
Germany is one of Europe’s biggest carbon emitters—in 2021, the country generated almost 644 million tonnes of CO₂.
Also making an impression are Italy (which is the second-highest CO₂ emitter after Germany) and the UK, as well the significant amount of trade along the English Channel.
Compared to the intricate network of cities, towns, and bustling highways spanning Europe, across the Mediterranean are far clearer and simpler lines of activity in Northern Africa. Two major exceptions are in the Middle-East, where Egypt’s Nile River and Suez Canal are massively lit up, as well as Israel on the east of the sea.
But a more significant (albeit murkier) picture is drawn by the massive amounts of shipping and flight paths illuminating the Atlantic and Mediterranean at large.
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To mitigate the negative effects of climate change, countries around the world have made commitments to reach net-zero emissions.
Imagining the global map of emissions with these commitments in action requires a complete transformation of energy production, consumption habits, transportation infrastructure, and more. And even then, a future generated map wouldn’t be fully dark, as “net-zero” is not equivalent to zero emissions but a balance of emissions and removal.
How might this map of global emissions look in the near and distant future? And what other interesting insights can you generate by browsing the world this way?
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