Scariest Statistic Of The Year: 90.5 Percent Of World's Plastic Has Never Been Recycled

It is no surprise that our world is choking under a mountain of plastic -- on the land and in the sea. It's affecting the lives of plants and animals all over the planet.

There are 5 trillion pieces of plastic floating in our oceans. Plastic pollutes everywhere from the North Pole to 12 km into the deepest parts of the ocean, and the problem is so severe that 92% of all salt brands in the world have plastic contaminants in them.

AFP // Plastic pollution in New Delhi sewer

ALSO READ: Shame On Us! 100% Of All Sea Turtles Have Plastic In Them, Because We Just Can't Stop Polluting

The world's plastic pollution epidemic has attracted the attention of Britain's Royal Statistical Society, which chose 90.5 percent -- the proportion of plastic waste that has never been recycled -- as its international statistic of the year for 2018, according to an Associated Press report.

The British society annually picks a statistic to draw attention to, and decided to settle on the plastic recycling stat this year based on a UN report to highlight the severity of plastic pollution faced by mankind.

NOAA

ALSO READ: Man Trying To Be 1st To Swim Across Pacific Ocean Says He Sees Floating Plastic Every 5 Minutes

Recently, though, awareness against the use of plastic has been steadily growing, with single-use plastic getting banned in Mumbai but a lot still needs to be done.

The Ocean Cleanup Project is trying to clean the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, floating in the middle of the world's largest ocean, but again it seems like we are generating more plastic than actually weaning ourself off of it.

If we don't do something about our plastic dependance fast, we will choke under its over-use. That's definitely a scary thought.