Every year, 8-12 million metric tons of plastic are dumped into our oceans. This is the equivalent to a garbage truck of plastic dumped every minute into the oceans.

http://www.oceansplasticleanup.com/8_Million_12_Tons_Plastic_Marine_Pollution_Per_Year.htm

This is the equivalent to 2,000 garbage trucks full of plastic dumped every day into the world's oceans, rivers, and lakes. Other studies estimate 12.7 million tons of plastic entering the oceans each year, approximating the weight of 37,000 Boeing 747’s.

https://kids.frontiersin.org/

https://oceanconservancy.org/trash-free-seas/plastics-in-the-ocean/

is estimated that at least 200 million metric tons of plastic circulate the world’s oceans. Plastic waste makes up to 80% of all marine pollution with 50-75 trillion pieces of plastic and microplastic floating in the oceans. In 2019, it was estimated that 1.5 million trillion pieces of plastic microfibers are in the oceans.

Single use plastics (bottles, cups, plates, bags, packaging, food containers, cosmetics) alone account for 49% of marine pollution.

Plastic doesn’t biodegrade. Plastic photodegrades – it breaks down into smaller and smaller pieces in the sun and releases chemicals into the water. Over 90% of plastic pollution in the ocean is reported to be due to microplastics smaller than your fingernail. Microplastics have been found everywhere, from the ocean seabed of the Mariana Trench to the Arctic ice. In a 2021 report, Kyushu University scientists estimated 24.4 trillion microplastics are in the world’s upper oceans, an amount equivalent to 30 billion half-liter water bottles.