The worst offenders in terms of per capita plastic trash include both high-income developed countries — like Germany, the Netherlands and Ireland — as well as low-income countries like Sri Lanka and Guyana.
Small island countries have high per capita rates, probably due to their heavily coastal populations (mouse over or tap each bar to see details).
Click next to see countries with the lowest per capita rates.
Most wealthy and highly industrialized countries consume more plastic products than poor countries, which leads to higher plastic waste. That's why none of the countries in this chart are developed or high-income nations.
Click here to see data for all countries and areas.
Surprisingly, among all 192 countries and areas included in this study, Indians throw away the least amount of plastic per person. However, if we look at total plastic waste produced by a country, India is one of the world's biggest plastic litterers, especially due to its huge coastal population.
Click next to see the differences when we categorize the countries by their total amount of plastic waste generated.
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| 10 - 100 |
| 100 - 1000 |
| 1000 - 5000 |
| 5000 - 10000 |
| > 10000 |
Data comes from "Plastic waste inputs from land into the ocean," a study that estimated plastic trash produced by populations living within 50km of a coast in 192 countries in 2010.
The estimated weights of different plastic trash types were obtained from various sources, including weighing by this application's developer.
The plastic trash figures in this quiz represent totals before recycling and other solid waste processing. Countries with high plastic trash generation rate could reduce their plastic waste discarded into the environment through adequate waste management.
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