Most Plastic Was Not Recycled But Was Dumped

78% (830,000 tonnes) of the 2018 U.S. plastic waste exports were sent to countries with waste “mismanagement rates” greater than 5%. Mismanagement means the plastic was probably dumped in a river. The actual mismanagement rates in China, India and Vietnam are 78-85%. Mismanaged “recycled” plastic probably ended up in the ocean. Plastic waste has been exported and counted as “recycled” by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) and the waste and recycling industry for decades. Just 10 river systems carry 90% of the plastic that ends up in the ocean. Eight of them are in Asia: the Yangtze; Indus; Yellow;