The biggest source of plastic pollution in rivers, 6.9% of all used plastic bottles are littered a year in the UK.
300 million crisp packets and 200 million sweet wrappers end up as litter in the UK every year.
In the UK an estimated 44 billion cigarettes are smoked each year, with over 14 billion ending up as litter.
5.2 billion food containers are used each year of which 0.3 billion end up as litter.
1.8 billion plastic-stemmed cotton buds are used in England each year. 10% are flushed down the toilet.
An estimated 2.5 billion coffee cups (30,000 tonnes) are used each year. 99% are currently not recycled.
Each day 3.4 billion wet wipes, 700,000 panty liners, 2.5 million tampons and 1.4 million sanitary towels are flushed down the toilet.
Smoking-related packaging makes up 1.1% of all litter items found in freshwater environments.
4.7 billion straws, 316 million drinks stirrers and 16.5 billion single-use cutlery items are used each year. These items are often made from hard-to-recycle plastic.
Single-use plastic carrier bag use has fallen 86% since the UK introduced the 5p tax in 2014, but the seven major supermarkets still handed out over a billion bags in 2017-2018.
We want to build collaboration and conversation across sectors to shape our investment and develop pioneering interventions. If you're interested in working with us, we'd love to hear from you.
Images: iStock/barbaraaaa, John Hunt, iStock/artisteer, iStock/vchal, eXXpedition, iStock/Serena Speticado Artimedes
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