A look at the amount of plastic produced globally since 1950.
2X
The first synthetic plastic, Bakelite, was created in 1907. In just the last 10 years, we have produced more plastic than the entire previous century — in the last 20 years, plastic production has doubled.
Millions of tons (Mt)
History of Plastic
1950 - 2023
| Tonnes of plastic (millions) | |
|---|---|
| 1950 | 2 |
| 1960 | 8 |
| 1970 | 35 |
| 1980 | 70 |
| 1990 | 120 |
| 2000 | 213 |
| 2010 | 313 |
| 2023 | 430 |
Sources: https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/blog/2023/08/explainer-what-is-plastic-pollution/
https://ourworldindata.org/plastic-pollution#:~:text=In%201950%2C%20the%20world%20produced,medical%20instruments%2C%20and%20food%20packaging.
https://plasticoceans.org/the-facts/#:~:text=Annually%2C%20approximately%20500%20billion%20plastic,whole%20of%20the%20last%20century.