By 2050 there might be more plastic than fish in the sea

Humanity’s progress is marked by chance findings and lucky discoveries and this one might be one of the best.

In the 1950s the discovery of plastics seemed to be the solution to all our packaging and storage needs. Glass was great but heavy, expensive and fragile. Plastic was a wonder product that helped make a certain soft drink one of the most recognised brands on the planet and ensure that almost every human hand has held that plastic bottle at some point in their lives. That one brand alone revealed that they produce three million tonnes of plastic packaging a year in 2017. That would be equivalent to 200 000 bottles produced per minute or over 100 billion per year.

Some bottles do get recycled, some is reused for clothing but a big proportion is simply thrown away with a portion of that ending up in the sea.

Image credit: Wikipedia