MIAMI: The world has a plastic problem. More than 9.1 billion tons of it have been produced on Earth, with most dumped into landfills or the oceans, US researchers said on Wednesday.

The report in the journal Science Advances is described as “the first global analysis of all mass-produced plastics”, and warns that an even more dire scenario lies ahead. At the current pace, “over 13 billion tons of plastic waste will be discarded in landfills or in the environment by 2050”.

“Most plastics don’t bio-degrade in any meaningful sense, so the plastic waste humans have generated could be with us for hundreds or even thousands of years,” said Jenna Jambeck, study co-author and associate professor of engineering at the University of Georgia.

“Our estimates underscore the need to think critically about the materials we use and our waste management practices.”

Despite widespread efforts toward re-usability, only nine per cent was recycled. Another 12 per cent was incinerated, a process that can also be harmful to the environment.

Recycling is not much help when it comes to plastics, because they do not dissolve in the environment.

None of the plastics in widespread use are biodegradable.

Just over two tons of plastics were produced globally in 1950, when mass manufacturing of the durable material began, said the report.

By 2015, that number skyrocketed to over 440 million tons, outpacing most other man-made materials, with the exception of steel and cement.

About half of the total amount of plastics produced from 1950 to 2015 has been made in just the last 13 years.

Published in Dawn, July 20th, 2017