According to the “Nikkei Business News” reported on August 6, the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) recently released a report that the global production of plastic waste continues to increase, more than 300 million tons per year into the environment, causing negative impacts on tourism and fisheries. The various losses amounted to approximately $13 billion per year.
A portion of plastic waste can be incinerated and recycled, but discarded and landfilled plastic waste continues to increase in the environment and is projected to reach approximately 12 billion tons by 2050.
According to the report, the global production of plastic waste reached 302 million tons in 2015 with the latest data, which is 6 times compared with about 50 million tons in 1980.
On the other hand, the recycling rate is currently only about 15% of the total. The EU’s recycling rate is close to 30%, but Japan is only 20%.
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