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Five Countries Dump Nearly 60 Percent Of Plastic Trash In Oceans

By R. Siva Kumar | Update Date: Jan 14, 2016 11:11 AM EST

The biggest contribution of humans to our oceans seems to garbage.

We dump 8 million metric tons of plastic into the ocean each year. If we don't bring about change in our behavior and habits, Ocean Conservancy  cautions that we are going to double the rate of plastic waste in a decade, says Public Radio International.

And just five percent of the plastic trash is visible, with the rest underneath, according to GlobalPost.

Ocean Conservancy said that five countries are responsible for almost 60 percent of the plastic junk in the oceans.

Even though the western world has the image of being the highest producers of the ocean's trash, the countries that are responsible for most of the oceans' garbage are China, Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam.

"At this rate, we would expect nearly one ton of plastic for every three tons of fish in our oceans by 2025 - an unthinkable number with drastic economic and environmental consequences," said Nicholas Mallos, director of Ocean Conservancy's marine debris program.

The reason for this new statistic from Asia is mostly due to its consumption of western junk. Almost all of the junk doesn't necessarily end up landfills while just about 40 percent of the waste is collected. Most often it gets stored in communal dumps, from where the wind picks up and transports them to the oceans.

Meanwhile, the U.S. accounts for less than one percent of the junk in the oceans. Still, generation of plastic waste, in general, totals a high number, says One Green Planet.

The average US waste per person is higher than the waste per average Chinese citizen, even though China contributes the most to plastic garbage in the oceans.

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