A world map showing mismanaged plastic waste in 2019, with countries colored by the amount of waste in tons.

A choropleth map illustrating global mismanaged plastic waste data from 2019, with a color gradient from light blue to deep purple indicating increasing amounts of waste across different countries.

Mismanaged plastic waste, 2019 Mismanaged plastic waste is waste that is not recycled, incinerated, or kept in sealed landfills. It includes materials burned in open pits, dumped into seas or open waters, or disposed of in unsanitary landfills and dumpsites. Our World in Data No data 0 t 50,000 t 100,000 t 500,000 t 1 million t 5 million t 10 million t Data source: Meijer et al. (2021) OurWorldinData.org/plastic-pollution | CC BY