The shocking scale of the world’s plastic crisis: 220 MILLION tonnes of waste are expected to be produced this year – the equivalent of 20,000 Eiffel Towers

This year alone will create some 220 million tonnes of plastic waste – the equivalent of 20,000 Eiffel Towers – a new report warns.

The charity EA Earth Action has published its annual research showing that by 2024, 28kg of plastic waste per person will be created globally.

They predict that more than a third will be poorly managed at the end of its life.

Worryingly, this equates to a staggering 68.6 million tonnes of plastic ending up in landfill.

This includes plastic packaging, plastic in textiles and plastic in household waste.

Charity EA Earth Action has published their annual study showing that by 2024, 28kg of plastic waste per person will be created across the world. People living in Belgium are the largest producers of plastic

The report also estimates Plastic Overshoot Day, the point when the amount of plastic waste generated exceeds the world’s capacity to manage it.

This year they expect it to land on September 5.

Researchers also warned that as of this month, almost 50 percent of the world’s population lives in areas where the amount of plastic waste generated already exceeds the capacity to manage it.

This will increase to 66 percent by Plastic Overshoot Day, they say.

Just 12 countries are responsible for 60 percent of the world’s mismanaged plastic waste, she added. The top five consists of China, the US, India, Brazil and Mexico.

This year alone, around 220 million tonnes of plastic waste will be produced – the equivalent of 20,000 Eiffel Towers

Researchers also warned that as of this month, almost 50 percent of the world’s population lives in areas where the amount of plastic waste generated already exceeds the capacity to manage it. China is the largest producer of plastic waste

Sarah Perreard, co-CEO of EA Earth Action, said: ‘The findings are unequivocal; Improvements in waste management capacity are being outpaced by rising plastic production, making progress virtually invisible.

‘The assumption that recycling and waste management capacity will solve the plastic crisis is incorrect.’

Sian Sutherland, co-founder of A Plastic Planet, said: ‘After decades of scientists sounding the alarm, it is now clear to all that plastic pollution has put humanity on the path to ecological and humanitarian disaster.

‘We have a limited window of opportunity this year to reach a global plastics treaty that will protect not only our oceans, our air and our soil, but also our own children.’

The report was released ahead of the fourth round of negotiations for a UN Global Plastics Treaty, which will take place later this month in Ottawa, Canada.

It recommends strategies such as reducing plastic consumption and use, promoting repair and reuse initiatives, improving local waste management infrastructure and ending the import of plastic waste from other countries.