The document states that, as of 2015, 79% of all plastic waste ever produced had ended up in landfills or the natural environment, 12% had been incinerated, and only 9% had been recycled. It also says annual virgin plastic production is set to double by 2040, reaching 2,000 million tonnes per year by 2050.

The page says that plastics and plastic pollution are a worldwide challenge and that annual global production of plastics and plastic waste doubled in 2019 compared with 2000. It also says the trend is forecast to triple under a business-as-usual scenario by 2060.

The article says humanity produces more than 400 million tonnes of plastic each year, much of which ends up in the environment. It frames this as a continuing global pollution problem in 2024.

The post says each year, over 430 million tonnes of plastic is produced, with two-thirds of it ending up as waste. This is presented as UNEP guidance for #BeatPlasticPollution.

The UN page says that every year, we produce more than 400 million tons of plastic. It adds that plastic waste flowing into aquatic ecosystems will nearly triple by 2040 without action.

The world produces around 350 million tonnes of plastic waste each year. ... For context, the world generated around 350 million tonnes of plastic waste, which means that just under 1% of plastic waste was traded. ... This includes municipal plastic waste from households, plus waste from industry and construction.

Global plastic waste generation has grown more than seven-fold in the past four decades to 360 million metric tons per year. ... In 2023, global plastics production amounted to roughly 415 million metric tons, doubling in comparison to the beginning of the century.

The OECD press release on its Global Plastics Outlook states: "Globally, plastic leakage to the environment is seen doubling to 44 Mt a year, while the build-up of plastics in lakes, rivers and oceans will more than triple, as plastic waste balloons from 353 Mt in 2019 to 1,014 Mt in 2060." This figure of 353 million tonnes is given explicitly as *global plastic waste in 2019*.

The OECD’s Global Plastics Outlook (economic drivers and impacts) quantifies recent waste flows: "Plastic waste has more than doubled, from 156 Mt in 2000 to 353 Mt in 2019." It further notes that only 9% of plastic waste was ultimately recycled, 19% incinerated, almost 50% landfilled, and 22% disposed of in uncontrolled dumpsites or burned in open pits.

As of 2015, approximately 6300 Mt of plastic waste had been generated, around 9% of which had been recycled, 12% was incinerated, and 79% was accumulated in landfills or the natural environment. If current production and waste management trends continue, roughly 12,000 Mt of plastic waste will be in landfills or in the natural environment by 2050.

The page says the plastics industry has seen annual global production rise from about 1.5 million metric tons in 1950 to 359 million metric tons in 2018. This is a historical production benchmark close to the claimed magnitude but not the same as plastic waste.

An OECD policy highlights PDF summarising the Global Plastics Outlook states: "Globally, the annual production of plastics has doubled, soaring from 234 million tonnes (Mt) in 2000 to 460 Mt in 2019. Plastic waste has more than doubled, from 156 Mt in 2000 to 353 Mt in 2019." It also specifies that only "33 million tonnes (Mt), or 9% of the 353 Mt of plastic waste, were recycled in 2019."

The world produces around 350 million tonnes of plastic waste each year. What matters for environmental pollution is not necessarily how much plastic we produce, but what we do with it.

Plastic is a synthetic, organic polymer made from fossil fuels, such as gas and petroleum. Over 460 million metric tons of plastic are produced every year, according to the United Nations Environment Programme. ... Macro-plastics (pieces larger than 0.5 mm) made up 88% of global plastic leakage to the environment in 2019, around 20 million metric tons, polluting all ecosystems.

An adapted version of the OECD Global Plastics Outlook hosted by the European Union notes: "Globally, the annual production of plastics has doubled, soaring from 234 million tonnes (Mt) in 2000 to 460 Mt in 2019. Plastic waste has more than doubled, from 156 Mt in 2000 to 353 Mt in 2019." It describes this report as "the first to comprehensively take stock of current plastics production, use and waste generation" worldwide.

In summary, it's estimated that in 2015, around 55 percent of global plastic waste was discarded, 25 percent was incinerated, and 20 percent was recycled. Of the plastic waste produced between 1950 and 2015, only 9 percent was recycled. Over the period from 1950 to 2019, cumulative production reached 9.5 billion tonnes of plastic. In 1950 the world produced only 2 million tonnes per year. By 2019, annual production had increased nearly 230-fold, reaching 460 million tonnes.

The global annual production of plastic is more than 359 million tons. Despite all the benefits, plastics cause severe environmental and public health issues. ... Increasing global plastic waste generation has become a serious problem because of poor management practices and the non-biodegradable nature of plastic.

In 2019, global primary plastic production was 460 million tonnes (Mt), and plastic waste generated was 353 Mt. Plastic waste generated is projected to increase to 460 Mt by 2060 if current policies and trends continue.

Every year, over 400 million tons of plastic are produced (UNEP, 2025). ... Only 10% of the plastic produced worldwide is recycled after use (Liu et al, 2024). The rest is burned, buried or left to pollute our environment. Approximately 11 million tonnes of plastic enter the ocean annually (UNEP, 2025).

The article says more than 430 million tons of plastic are produced each year, two-thirds of which is cast aside as waste after just one use. It cites UNEP's 2023 report on plastic pollution.

Plastics production and use reached 435 million tonnes in 2020, up from 234 million tonnes in 2000. Without additional action, annual plastics production is projected to reach 1,230 million tonnes by 2060. ... Mismanaged plastic waste is projected to double to 99 million tonnes per year by 2060 under current policies.

In an OECD Green Talks Live presentation on the Global Plastics Outlook, the OECD speaker states: "we used 460 million tons of plastic and generated 353 million tons of waste" in 2019. Later they reiterate: "by 2060 plastic waste is also projected to triple so we had 355 million tons of plastic waste in 2019 and it's a little over a billion tons" under the baseline scenario, indicating global waste levels around 353–355 million tonnes for that year, depending on rounding and dataset version.

The world generates around 353 million tonnes of plastic waste a year, most of which is not recycled and ends up in landfills, is incinerated or leaks into the environment, according to the OECD’s Global Plastics Outlook. Plastic production and waste are expected to continue rising without stronger policies.

A University of Leeds page describing its work linked to the OECD Global Plastics Outlook states: "By 2060, we anticipate that global plastic consumption will have quadrupled to more than 1,200 million tonnes." It references the OECD’s quantified scenarios of plastic production, waste and leakage, which use a baseline of roughly 353 million tonnes of plastic waste in 2019 and project waste to more than 1,000 million tonnes by 2060 under business-as-usual.

A 2024 research article on global environmental plastic dispersal cites the OECD outlook: "In its 2022 ‘Global Plastics Outlook: Policy Scenarios to 2060’ report, the OECD outlined ... a base case that projects a tripling of plastic production and waste generation by 2060." It uses OECD baseline values of around 353 million tonnes of plastic waste in 2019 and >1,000 million tonnes in 2060 to compare with its own leakage-focused scenarios.

The guidance note says annual global production of plastics doubled from 234 million metric tons in 2000 to 460 million metric tons in 2019. It also says 60 to 99 million metric tons of mismanaged plastic waste were produced in 2015.

An overview article from EndPlasticSoup summarising the OECD Global Plastics Outlook notes that the Outlook "gives an overview of the challenges ahead and potential solutions" and that population growth and higher incomes "have driven up global plastics production, which doubled between 2000 and 2019, soaring to 460 million tonnes (Mt)." It further states that plastic waste "has more than doubled, from 156 Mt in 2000 to 353 Mt in 2019," reflecting the OECD’s global waste estimate.

The PDF says annual production of virgin plastics would increase from 430 Mt in 2019 to 712 Mt by 2040. It also repeats that the plastics system contributes substantially to greenhouse gas emissions and that production has increased sharply over time.

Cumulative plastic production is estimated to have reached 8,300 million metric tons (MMT) in 2015. ... Estimate results indicate the lowest overall world production of plastic from three companies was in the year 2000 at 2.6 MMT and the highest in 2023 at 8.1 MMT, so far. The mass of plastic waste generated per annum by the three major beverage companies studied here is estimated to be in the range of 14 or 20 MMT by 2050 if trends of current consumption and waste management continue unabated.

Multiple global assessments indicate that annual plastic waste generation is on the order of several hundred million metric tons per year, with recent estimates clustering around 350–360 million tonnes. These figures typically include municipal and industrial plastic waste streams and underpin projections that, without policy change, plastic waste could nearly triple by 2060.