Plastics cost world $1.5 trillion in health damages yearly: Report

A recent expert review highlights the escalating global health crisis caused by plastics, estimating that plastic-related diseases cost the world at least $1.5 trillion annually. Since 1950, plastic production has surged over 200 times and is projected to nearly triple by 2060, driven largely by single-use items like fast-food containers and beverage bottles. The report emphasizes that plastics pose dangers at every stage—from fossil fuel extraction and production to waste disposal—contributing to air pollution, toxic chemical exposure, and microplastic contamination in humans. Plastic pollution also facilitates disease spread by creating mosquito breeding grounds in littered waste. The environmental impact is severe, with over 8.8 billion US tons of plastic waste polluting ecosystems worldwide, from Mount Everest to the Mariana Trench, and less than 10% of all plastic ever produced has been recycled. The report calls for urgent international action, particularly as over 100 countries push for a legally binding global plastics treaty to cap production, though opposition remains from oil