15 Interesting Facts About Plastic

Plastic, plastic, plastic. What do you know about one of the most common materials used in the world today?

From general plastic waste to ocean plastic, we've found 15 interesting facts that'll blow your mind!

Read them below and impress your friends and colleagues when you're finished...

1. Almost every piece of plastic ever made still exists today! - Source


2. One recycled plastic bottle can save enough energy to light a 60W light-bulb for 6 hours. - Source


3. Sweden is so good at recycling that it has run out of rubbish and imports 80,000 tonnes a year from Norway. - Source


4. The recycling rate for plastic drink bottles in the UK is approximately 74%. - Source


5. 5 plastic bottles can create enough fibre to fill one ski jacket. - Source


6. It takes around 450 years for one plastic bottle to break down into the ground. - Source


7. On average, one person using a reusable drinks bottle will save using 100 disposable bottles every year.


8. One tonne of recycled plastic saves: 5,774 kWh of elecetricity, 685 gallons of oil, 98 million Btu’s of energy and 30 cubic yards of landfill space. - Source


9. Recycling one tonne of plastic bottles also saves 1.5 tonnes of carbon. 1 tonne roughly equates to 25,000 plastic bottles. - Source


10. It takes 75% less energy to make a plastic bottle from recycled plastic compared with using ‘virgin’ materials. - Source


11. There is a species of fungus from the Amazon that feeds on and can live off plastic. 
12. To encourage recycling, the Beijing subways allow travellers to use plastic bottles as a form of payment. - Source


13. Kenya introduced a plastic bag ban in 2017 - people caught producing, selling or even using plastic bags risk getting a £31,000 fine.


14. Recycling creates 6 times more jobs than land-filling and 36 times more than incinerating.


15. 90% of people say they would recycle more if it were made easier. - Source