Plastic materials flow worldwide 1950-2017

By the 1950’s, the cost to manufacture plastics had dropped to levels low enough to begin mass production. Since then, the production of plastics has not slowed down and by 2017 the total global production of plastics had surpassed nine billion metric tons. Of this enormous quantity, it is estimated that more than half ended up as waste, and roughly seven percent was recycled. Growing demand for plastic Plastic is now a part of everyday life, with many applications depending on it such as packaging, construction, electronics, and medical equipment. This increased need has led to global plastic production totaling more than 300 million tons a year, with China being the leading plastics producer worldwide. The most widely produced plastics are polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP). In the coming years, PE and PP demand worldwide is expected to increase to 180 million metric tons. The plastic waste crisis With such vast quantities of plastics being produced ever year, and ever-increasing consumerism worldwide, plastics have inevitably become problematic to the planet. When not properly managed, plastic waste can often end up in waterways, causing devastating environmental pollution.

至20世纪50年代，塑料的制造成本已降至足以启动大规模生产的水平。自此，塑料的生产从未减速，截至2017年，全球塑料的总产量已超过九十亿吨。在这庞大的数量中，预计超过一半最终成为废物，而大约百分之七得到回收。塑料的需求不断增长，塑料已成为日常生活的组成部分，其在包装、建筑、电子和医疗设备等众多领域的应用不可或缺。这种需求的增长导致全球塑料年产量超过三亿吨，其中中国是全球最大的塑料生产国。最广泛生产的塑料是聚乙烯（PE）和聚丙烯（PP）。在未来的几年里，预计全球对PE和PP的需求量将达到一亿八千万吨。塑料废物危机：由于每年生产的塑料数量庞大，以及全球消费主义的不断上升，塑料不可避免地成为对地球的难题。若管理不当，塑料废物往往会流入水域，造成灾难性的环境污染。