U.S. mismanaged plastic waste key figures| ��ƽ��

Key figures about mismanaged plastic waste in the United States in 2016* (in million tons)

Characteristic	Low	High
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Release date

October 2020

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Region

United States

Survey time period

2016

Supplementary notes

*Inadequately managed waste - Solid waste that is not collected and/or properly contained because of lack of waste management infrastructure
Litter - Solid waste that is intentionally or unintentionally disposed into the environment despite the availability of waste management infrastructure
Illegal dumping - Disposal of waste in an unpermitted area (37) despite the availability of waste management infrastructure
Exported, inadequately managed plastic waste - Plastic waste collected for recycling in the United States that was exported to countries where it was inadequately managed
Mismanaged waste - Sum of above categories

Citation formats

The United States generated an estimated ** million tons of plastic waste in 2016, making it by far the world's biggest plastic waste generator. Of this amount, an estimated **** million tons were mismanaged through practices such as illegal dumping, littering, and exports.
It has long been viewed that plastic waste pollution is more of a problem in Asia. However, it has often not been taken into account the enormous volumes of plastic waste exported by wealthier countries to developing countries without sufficient solid waste infrastructures. In 2016, between **** and **** million tons of plastic waste was collected in the U.S. for recycling, then exported to countries where it was inadequately managed.
The U.S. is also major contributor of plastic pollution into marine environments, with its coastal population generating an estimated **** million tons of mismanaged plastic waste in 2016.