The challenge is the growing global plastics pollution problem that defies efforts by individual countries to stem the tide. According to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), global plastic production doubled from 2000 to 2019, from 234 million tonnes (Mt) to 460 Mt, while plastic waste more than doubled during the same period, from 156 Mt to 353 Mt. In 2019 alone, 22 Mt of plastic material leaked into the environment. By 2019, 109 Mt had accumulated in rivers and 30 Mt in oceans.
