The amount of plastic waste in Sub-Saharan Africa will quadruple by 2060. The region will be one of the world’s biggest sources of plastic pollution in rivers, lakes and oceans, according to projections by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development.

In 2019, 22-million tonnes of plastic, most of it mismanaged waste, made its way into rivers and oceans. Worldwide plastic use will triple in the next 40 years. It will increase the most in developing countries in Asia and Africa.

South Africa, Egypt and Nigeria are the three biggest contributors to plastic pollution in Africa. In 2018, South Africa ‘leaked’ about 107,000 tonnes of plastic into water ecosystems, according to a study by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.

In 2022, 175 countries voted to create a treaty to eliminate plastic pollution. In November 2024, governments will come together in Busan, Republic of Korea, for the fifth and last round of negotiations for a global treaty to end plastic pollution. 

🔗 This was first published on 5 December 2023. For more like this, browse the full Our World in Charts collection