Some 220 million tonnes of plastic waste are set to be generated this year alone – the equivalent of 20,000 Eiffel Towers – a new report warns.
The charity EA Earth Action have released their annual study showing that across the globe, 28kg of plastic waste per person will be created in 2024.
They predict that over one third will be mismanaged at the end of its life.
Worryingly, this amounts to a whopping 68.6 million tonnes of plastic that ends up in landfill.
This includes plastic packaging, plastic in textiles and plastic in household waste.
The report also estimates Plastic Overshoot Day, which is the point when the amount of plastic waste generated exceeds the world’s capacity to manage it.
This year, they expect that to land on September 5.
Researchers also warned that, as of this month, almost 50 per cent of the world’s population are living in areas where the amount of plastic waste generated has already exceeded the capacity to manage it.
This will increase to 66 per cent by Plastic Overshoot Day, they said.
Just 12 countries are responsible for 60 per cent of the world’s mismanaged plastic waste, they added, with the top five being China, the USA, India, Brazil and Mexico.
Sarah Perreard, Co-CEO at EA Earth Action, said: ‘The findings are unequivocal; improvements in waste management capacity are outpaced by rising plastic production, making progress almost invisible.
‘The assumption that recycling and waste management capacity will solve the plastics crisis is flawed.’
Sian Sutherland, Co-Founder of A Plastic Planet, said: ‘After scientists have been ringing the alarm for decades it is now evident for all to see that plastic pollution has set humanity on the road to ecological and humanitarian disaster.
‘We have a narrow window of opportunity this year to create a global Plastics Treaty that will protect not only our ocean, our air, our soil but our own children.’
The report was released ahead of the fourth round of negotiations for a UN Global Plastic Treaty that will take place in Ottawa, Canada, later this month.
It recommends strategies such as reducing plastic consumption and usage, promoting repair and reuse initiatives, enhancing local waste management infrastructure and ceasing the import of plastic waste from other countries.