Plastic: horror stats

In our last article, we looked at how plastic came into being and the problems that arose with its establishment and mass use. Now we provide context, current figures, and stats – and they are alarming.

391,000,000 tonnes of plastic are produced worldwide every year – and the trend is rising. The continent of Europe alone accounts for 57 million of this, roughly exceeding the global production volume from the 1950s. A weight equivalent of almost 700,000 pieces of the largest passenger aircraft in the world (Airbus A380).

3,200,000,000 Swiss francs and thus more than three trillion Swiss francs in costs were caused by the global plastic production. A value that even significantly exceeds the GDP of France.

127 kilograms of plastic consumes the Swiss population per capita per year – a European record. Just under 100 kilograms of this is plastic waste.

85-90 per cent of plastic waste in Switzerland is incinerated – despite many recycling efforts and awareness-raising, most of the plastic in our country ends up in the rubbish.

Are you overwhelmed and discouraged by this gigantism? We can understand that. Even just stopping for a moment in our daily lives to look around at how often and where we are surrounded by plastic makes for an inglorious personal statistic.

That’s why we’ll conclude with two encouraging figures: planctons partner Tide Ocean has already upcycled more than 15 million PET bottles with plastic fishermen in Southeast Asia. This is processed, for example, in the form of planctons glasses made from 100 per cent ocean plastic. You have to start small to make a big difference.

We are proud and grateful that in the second year of our existence we are already supported by so many innovative and sustainably operating Swiss opticians. It is definitely worth buying your new glasses here…

Sources: Statista, WWF/Dalberg, Oceancare