The Scale of the Problem:

Over the last century, plastic pollution has been building up in the environment at a dramatic rate. It can now be found on almost every beach and ecosystem in the world.

Marine animals are worst affected, with studies showing that around 12 million tonnes of plastic pollution enter our oceans each year; that’s 8 million pieces every day. The environmental implications of this are catastrophic.

The Devastating Effects:

• Marine animals get tangled in plastic waste products or ingest them by accident. 
• Each year, this causes the deaths of 100,000 marine mammals and turtles and 1 million sea birds.
• Plastic pollution also often degrades into microplastics which enter the food chain and block the digestive systems of smaller animals.
• Evidence of microplastics can be found in 100% of turtles, 59% of whales, 36% of seals and 40% of seabird species.