Global Education Project EARTH
Support Earth Education   Donate

Waste

The essential data about waste explained in 11 infographics. Detailed charts and tables covering nuclear waste toxicity over 10 milllion years, mismanaged plastic waste, estimates of global plastic waste, food loss and waste and more. Learn the truth about waste and how it relates to the state of the world on The Global Education Project website with un-biased facts from the most reliable sources.
Nuclear Waste Toxicity over 10 Milllion Years Both the USA and Canada have over 200 million tons of uranium tailings which retain 85% of their original radioactivity.
Mismanaged Plastic Waste The amount of plastic debris that ends up in the oceans from the land is mostly determined by population size living within 50km of a coast and by the amount of plastic waste that is mismanaged—either littered or disposed into uncontained dumps or landfills....
Estimates of Global Plastic Waste "Recycling delays, rather than avoids, final disposal. It reduces future plastic waste generation only if it displaces primary plastic production; however, this displacement is extremely difficult to establish. "Second, plastics can be destroyed thermally....
Food Loss and Waste Approximately one third of the food produced in the world for human consumption—nearly 1.3 billion tonnes—gets lost or wasted every year. "Loss" refers to any food that is lost in the supply chain between the producer and the market from problems...
Global Plastic Production and Waste Packaging represents 26% of the total volume of plastics used. Even when managed adequately, the process of recycling plastic ultimately produces a lower quality product and the required shipping, washing, chopping and melting also has a detrimental...
Plastics
This section is an overview of the steep and rapid rise in the production and use of plastics; plastic waste management and mis-management; recycling; and the prevalence of microplastic debris in the environment.
Groundwater Contamination in the US "60% of the most hazardous liquid waste in the United States, 34 billion liters of solvents, heavy metals, and radioactive materials, is injected straight into deep groundwater via thousands of injection wells..." [1] "The industries requiring the...
Global Use of Water and Sanitation Services "90% of the developing world's waste water is still discharged untreated into local rivers and streams." "In 2015, an estimated 2.1 billion people lacked access to safely managed drinking water services and 4.5 billion lacked access to safely managed...
Grain Usage by Region
Marine Debris Decomposition
Plastics in the Ocean Rivers are a major pathway for plastic transport into the seas. Ten rivers: the Yangtze, Indus, Yellow, Hai He, Ganges, Pearl, Amur and Mekong in Asia; and the Nile and the Niger in Africa contribute about 90% of all river-driven plastics into the sea.


Page 1 of 1
If you didn't find the waste data you needed, try searching with a different keyword related to waste or browse information by category.

Sign up for EARTH Dispatches

Enter you email below to get jaw dropping charts and maps delivered straight to your inbox.

Get the EARTH presentation

A 150 page high-resolution PDF containing all updated maps, charts and data on EARTH website; use as an information-packed educational slide show, printed booklet or a set of single-page handouts.

Learn More

Test your EARTH Savvy

How much of the world's food produced for human consumption gets wasted each year?