Tearfund (UK) have produced a report that highlights some

shocking statistics about the human impact of waste around the world.

Our world has a problem with waste – and it’s hitting people living in poverty the hardest. Today, two billion people in the world’s poorest countries are living and working among piles of waste – that’s one in four of us. Drinking polluted water. Breathing toxic air. Battling sickness. This all results in up to a million deaths a year – and each day the waste mountains are growing.

But this situation can change, if we act together. We can call on companies to take responsibility for the plastic waste mountains their products are creating in poorer communities. And we can pledge to reduce our own plastic use too.

We believe this campaign will change lives – will you join us?

Facts About Plastic Waste

• Ireland creates enough plastic waste to cover the surface of a football pitch every 21 minutes.
• Ireland produces 17,590,254 cubic metres of plastic waste every year.
• For every person born since the 1950s, one tonne of plastic has been produced and less than a tenth of this has been recycled. 
• 93% of waste in low-income countries is mismanaged: openly dumped or burned