Picture this: all the plastic we have produced weighs the same as 25,000 Empire State Buildings

Jul 26, 2017

Empty plastic bottles are photographed nearby the public beach in Khaldeh, near Beirut, Lebanon June 6, 2017. REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir - RTX399ZV

Plastics produced globally every year has increased from 2 million tonnes in 1950 to 381 million in 2015. Image: REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir

John McKenna

Senior Writer, Formative Content

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Image: PlasticsEurope, Plastics - the Facts (2013)

A gull picks at plastic trash in a parking lot before sunset at Stearns Wharf in Santa Barbara, California July 30, 2015. Picture taken July 30, 2015. REUTERS/Patrick T. Fallon - RTX1MM1K

Image: REUTERS/Patrick T. Fallon

Image: “The New Plastics Economy: Rethinking the Future of Plastics”, World Economic Forum

Soburn, an 11-year-old girl, collects what can be used as food for pigs at landfill dumpsite outside Siem Reap March 19, 2015. A second-grade student, she helps her parents in the morning collecting usable items at the dumpsite where they live before going to school in the afternoon. Anlong Pi, an eight-hectare dumpsite situated close to the famous Cambodian resort province of Siem Reap, has recently become a tourist attraction in its own right. Sightseers pose for pictures with children who scavenge scraps for a living, making between $0.25 and $2 per day, according to a representative of a company overseeing the waste. Michelle Obama is due to visit to Cambodia to promote Let Girls Learn, a worldwide initiative that aims to help adolescent girls attend school. REUTERS/Athit PerawongmethaPICTURE 8 OF 23 FOR WIDER IMAGE STORY 'LIVING ON RUBBISH'SEARCH 'ANLONG PI' FOR ALL IMAGES - RTR4U4KB

Image: REUTERS/Athit Perawongmetha

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