The Plastic Crisis: A Quantified Assessment in 2025
Plastic pollution has reached an unprecedented level in 2025. According to the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), global plastic production has exceeded 430 million tons per year. Nearly two-thirds of this volume quickly becomes waste, part of which escapes any responsible management.
The oceans receive more than 12 million tons of plastic each year, equivalent to a garbage truck dumped every minute. This pollution spares no marine ecosystem. Microplastics, invisible to the naked eye, contaminate even the abysses of the oceans and threaten the entire food chain, from plankton to whales.
The health consequences are now proven. Humans ingest the equivalent of a credit card in plastic particles every week, mainly through water, air, and food. This chronic contamination worries researchers for its long-term effects on the immune, hormonal, and reproductive systems.
Plastic also contributes to the climate crisis. Its production depends 99% on hydrocarbons and emits more than 1.8 billion tons of CO2 each year. If the current trend continues, emissions related to plastic could represent 15% of the global carbon budget by 2050, compromising the objectives of the Paris Agreement.
The management of plastic waste remains very insufficient. Less than 10% of the plastics produced worldwide are recycled. The rest is incinerated, dumped, or abandoned in nature, exacerbating the pollution of soils, rivers, and oceans. Low- and middle-income countries, often dumps for the North’s waste, bear the brunt of this environmental injustice.
The Root Causes: From the Linear Model to Economic Interests
The explosion of plastic pollution finds its roots in our linear economic model. We manufacture, use, and throw away objects designed to be ephemeral, without thinking about their end of life or their impact on the planet.
Petrochemical and large retail industries play a central role in maintaining plastic dependency. Single-use packaging, often non-recyclable, represents more than 40% of global plastic production, even though sustainable alternatives exist.
Lobbying pressure hinders any ambitious policy. Large companies invest heavily in greenwashing, promising “bio-based” or “biodegradable” plastics whose harmlessness remains to be proven. These false solutions divert attention from structural measures: source reduction, reuse, prohibition of superfluous uses.
The absence of a binding international framework worsens the situation. Voluntary agreements, like the UN’s plastics charter, struggle to produce tangible effects. Governments often prioritize immediate economic growth at the expense of protecting the living.
False Promises and the Limits of Government Efforts
Governments are making numerous announcements to fight against plastic pollution, but concrete results remain weak. Bans on plastic bags, straws, or cotton swabs are a first step, but only concern a minority of the waste generated.
Recycling policies prove largely insufficient. Mechanical recycling of plastic is often costly, energy-intensive, and does not allow for a closed loop: most recycled plastics end up in degraded uses, then in landfill or incinerated.
Massive exports of plastic waste to Southern countries mask the inability of rich countries to manage their own garbage. This relocation of pollution exacerbates inequalities and endangers the health of local populations, exposed to informal and polluting treatment sites.
Some governments rely on “extended producer responsibility” (EPR), but the systems are often poorly applied and poorly controlled. Industrialists continue to produce more and more virgin plastic, due to lack of incentives or sufficient constraints to change the model.
Plastic Pollution and Population Displacement: A Double Emergency
Plastic pollution adds to the causes of forced displacement. In 2024, nearly 46 million people had to leave their homes due to natural disasters, a growing proportion of which are linked to environmental degradation and the climate crisis.
Plastic exacerbates the vulnerability of communities. It clogs evacuation channels, promotes flooding, and destroys the livelihoods of fishermen or farmers. The accumulation of waste in camps or urban areas increases health risks for displaced populations.
Displaced people, migrants, and diasporas are key actors in building resilient societies. They bring skills, innovations, and networks to develop local solutions: sorting, revaluation, alternatives to plastic, community awareness.
Public policies must integrate the fight against plastic pollution into the management of environmental migrations. This involves strengthening prevention, access to clean water, sustainable waste management, and the active involvement of the populations concerned.
The Impacts on Marine Life and Biodiversity
Plastic pollution is a direct threat to marine fauna. More than a million seabirds and 100,000 marine mammals die each year due to ingestion or entanglement in plastic waste.
Microplastics penetrate the food chain, affecting the growth, reproduction, and survival of many species. Scientists warn of the risk of collapse of fish, crustacean, and other marine organism populations essential to the balance of the oceans.
Terrestrial biodiversity is not spared. Agricultural soils contaminated by plastics lose fertility, and pollinators, like bees, suffer the consequences of chemical pollution resulting from the degradation of plastics.
Human health is also at stake. So-called “eternal” pollutants (plastic additives, phthalates, bisphenols) disrupt endocrine systems and increase the risk of cancers, fertility disorders, and chronic diseases. The most vulnerable, children and exposed populations, pay a heavy price for this invisible contamination.
Solutions at Hand: Act to #BeatPlasticPollution
Reducing plastic pollution first involves eliminating unnecessary uses. Bans on single-use items must extend to all sectors, and regulation must favor the production of reusable and sustainable alternatives.
The transition to a circular economy is unavoidable. We need to rethink the design of goods to facilitate reuse, repair, and effective recycling. Deposit systems, bulk, and compostable materials offer concrete paths to develop massively.
Education and citizen mobilization are powerful levers. Cleaning, information, and advocacy campaigns put pressure on decision-makers and companies. Everyone can act by refusing superfluous plastic, supporting local initiatives, and demanding clear commitments from brands.
Migrants and diasporas are engines of innovation. Their experience of resilience in the face of crises can inspire solutions adapted to local contexts, particularly in community waste management and intergenerational awareness.
A Call to Action: Together for a Plastic-Free Planet
Faced with the scale of the crisis, it is urgent to move from promises to action. Governments must adopt binding laws to reduce the production of virgin plastic, support innovation, and strengthen the transparency of sectors.
Companies have the responsibility to invest in the research of alternative materials, rethink their models, and publicly report on their progress. Citizens must remain vigilant against greenwashing and demand measurable results.
Civil society, migrants, and displaced communities must be fully involved in defining policies and implementing solutions. IOM and other international organizations are leading the way by supporting inclusive and sustainable approaches.
World Environment Day 2025 is a call to action. To #BeatPlasticPollution, it is not enough to celebrate: we must commit, transform, and protect the living. The fight against plastic pollution is a fight for climate justice, human dignity, and the preservation of the oceans, our common good.
Sources:
https://storyteller.iom.int/stories/recycling-through-crisis-how-one-young-man-making-difference
https://www.iom.int/fr/journee-mondiale-de-lenvironnement-2025
