WWF predicts massive increase in plastic waste in the sea

Plastic pollution in the ocean is growing exponentially and will continue to increase. This is the conclusion reached by environmentalists and scientists in their study. By the end of this century, marine areas two and a half times the size of Greenland could exceed ecologically risky threshold values for microplastic concentrations, as the amount of marine microplastics threatens to increase 50-fold by then.

This forecast is based on a chain reaction: plastic production is expected to more than double by 2040. As a result, the larger macroplastics in the ocean will quadruple over the next 30 years. Over time, this will break down into smaller and smaller pieces, right down to microplastics and nanoplastics. In some hotspot regions such as the Mediterranean, the Yellow Sea, the East China Sea and the Arctic sea ice, the concentration of microplastics has already exceeded the ecologically critical threshold value.