How much plastic goes into the ocean by country?

This map shows mismanaged plastic waste escaping to oceans and coasts by country. Image credit: GPML

The data GPML uses and that OpenOceans Global consistently uses to understand plastic in the ocean comes from Florida State University’s Center for Ocean-Atmospheric Prediction Studies and is included in the GPML Digital Platform. The data is reported in the journal Frontiers published in April 22, 2021, titled: Tracking Marine Litter With a Global Ocean Model: Where Does It Go? Where Does It Come From? According to that data, compiled from 2010 to 2019, 75% of mismanaged plastic waste that reached the ocean ended up beached at the end of the 2019 study period, 25% remained at sea. The top five countries contribute 55% of all ocean plastic to the ocean, and the top ten countries contribute 71%. Here are the top ten countries and their contributions of plastic to the ocean in percentages.

• 19% - China
• 16% - Philippines
• 9% - India
• 6% - Brazil
• 6% - Indonesia
• 4% - Vietnam
• 3% - Malaysia
• 3% - Turkey
• 3% - Nigeria
• 3% - Bangladesh

It is important to note that these numbers do not take into account the production of plastic, which is led by China and the U.S. The data above define the countries where the most plastic reaches the coast and the ocean.