Microplastic are small plastic pieces less than five millimetres long which are harmful to life in the oceans and to our health. Microplastic come from a variety of sources, including from larger plastic debris that degrades into smaller and smaller pieces.
Pollution
Plastic Waste: We are the Problem
Worldwide 80% of plastic waste ends up in landfills and the environment. There it multiplies by breaking down into smaller pieces, up to sizes that are measured in microns (1000 microns = 1 mm). All the plastic ever manufactured still exists somewhere on Earth, most of it too small to see. It enters the food chain via packaging, water, agricultural produce and other species we consume, and ends up in us.
Plastic Pandemic is now a Global Crisis
We are forced to deal with plastic pandemic with urgency as it has now reached global proportions. It is estimated that there was the equivalent of 200 million garbage-truck-loads of plastic in the oceans and landfills at end 2015 and that this will become the equivalent of 500 million garbage-truck-loads by 2050.
Plastic Waste: Last Nail in the Coffin of Marine Life
A new global study published in July broke new ground by presenting the first global analysis of all mass-produced plastic ever manufactured. It is estimated that 8,300 million metric tons (Mt) of virgin plastics have been produced to date worldwide and the vast majority has ended up in our environment.