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Where River Plastic Reaches the Ocean
Share of the world’s plastic waste carried into the ocean by rivers, by country where the rivers reach the sea, 2015 estimate, %
Meijer et al. (2021), Science Advances; river outfall data on Figshare (CC BY 4.0), summed by country by Palanor with Natural Earth boundaries. One model estimate for 2015, mid-point scenario: floating plastic carried to sea by rivers, placed where each river reaches the sea. The twenty largest countries are shown. The authors give a wide uncertainty range around the world total, and country figures are less certain still.
A single estimate of where plastic waste carried by rivers enters the sea. The study traced it to more than a thousand rivers, many of them small urban rivers in the Philippines, India, Malaysia, China and Indonesia, where dense coastal cities meet patchy waste collection.
What this chart reads·20 series
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- Philippines · Share of Global River Plastic Emitted to the Ocean · % (2015)as “Philippines”behindlatest 2015-12-31
- India · Share of Global River Plastic Emitted to the Ocean · % (2015)as “India”behindlatest 2015-12-31
- Malaysia · Share of Global River Plastic Emitted to the Ocean · % (2015)as “Malaysia”behindlatest 2015-12-31
- China · Share of Global River Plastic Emitted to the Ocean · % (2015)as “China”behindlatest 2015-12-31
- Indonesia · Share of Global River Plastic Emitted to the Ocean · % (2015)as “Indonesia”behindlatest 2015-12-31
- Myanmar · Share of Global River Plastic Emitted to the Ocean · % (2015)as “Myanmar”behindlatest 2015-12-31
- Brazil · Share of Global River Plastic Emitted to the Ocean · % (2015)as “Brazil”behindlatest 2015-12-31
- Vietnam · Share of Global River Plastic Emitted to the Ocean · % (2015)as “Vietnam”behindlatest 2015-12-31
- Bangladesh · Share of Global River Plastic Emitted to the Ocean · % (2015)as “Bangladesh”behindlatest 2015-12-31
- Thailand · Share of Global River Plastic Emitted to the Ocean · % (2015)as “Thailand”behindlatest 2015-12-31
- Nigeria · Share of Global River Plastic Emitted to the Ocean · % (2015)as “Nigeria”behindlatest 2015-12-31
- Türkiye · Share of Global River Plastic Emitted to the Ocean · % (2015)as “Türkiye”behindlatest 2015-12-31
- Cameroon · Share of Global River Plastic Emitted to the Ocean · % (2015)as “Cameroon”behindlatest 2015-12-31
- Sri Lanka · Share of Global River Plastic Emitted to the Ocean · % (2015)as “Sri Lanka”behindlatest 2015-12-31
- Haiti · Share of Global River Plastic Emitted to the Ocean · % (2015)as “Haiti”behindlatest 2015-12-31
- Guatemala · Share of Global River Plastic Emitted to the Ocean · % (2015)as “Guatemala”behindlatest 2015-12-31
- Dominican Republic · Share of Global River Plastic Emitted to the Ocean · % (2015)as “Dominican Republic”behindlatest 2015-12-31
- Venezuela · Share of Global River Plastic Emitted to the Ocean · % (2015)as “Venezuela”behindlatest 2015-12-31
- Tanzania · Share of Global River Plastic Emitted to the Ocean · % (2015)as “Tanzania”behindlatest 2015-12-31
- Algeria · Share of Global River Plastic Emitted to the Ocean · % (2015)as “Algeria”behindlatest 2015-12-31
Sources·20 sources
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Philippines · Share of Global River Plastic Emitted to the Ocean · % (2015). Source: Palanor calculation (scripts/v23a/plastic/assign.py) from Meijer, L.J.J., van Emmerik, T., van der Ent, R., Schmidt, C. and Lebreton, L. (2021), "More than 1000 rivers account for 80% of global riverine plastic emissions into the ocean", Science Advances 7(18): eaaz5803 (doi:10.1126/sciadv.aaz5803); data: "Supplementary data for 'More than 1000 rivers…'", Figshare, doi:10.6084/m9.figshare.14515590 (mid-point scenario, 31,819 river outfalls, metric tons a year), licensed CC BY 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0). Country boundaries: Natural Earth 1:10m Admin 0 (public domain). Palanor sums the outfalls by country; the article's own country table (CC BY-NC) is not used.
India · Share of Global River Plastic Emitted to the Ocean · % (2015). Source: Palanor calculation (scripts/v23a/plastic/assign.py) from Meijer, L.J.J., van Emmerik, T., van der Ent, R., Schmidt, C. and Lebreton, L. (2021), "More than 1000 rivers account for 80% of global riverine plastic emissions into the ocean", Science Advances 7(18): eaaz5803 (doi:10.1126/sciadv.aaz5803); data: "Supplementary data for 'More than 1000 rivers…'", Figshare, doi:10.6084/m9.figshare.14515590 (mid-point scenario, 31,819 river outfalls, metric tons a year), licensed CC BY 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0). Country boundaries: Natural Earth 1:10m Admin 0 (public domain). Palanor sums the outfalls by country; the article's own country table (CC BY-NC) is not used.
Malaysia · Share of Global River Plastic Emitted to the Ocean · % (2015). Source: Palanor calculation (scripts/v23a/plastic/assign.py) from Meijer, L.J.J., van Emmerik, T., van der Ent, R., Schmidt, C. and Lebreton, L. (2021), "More than 1000 rivers account for 80% of global riverine plastic emissions into the ocean", Science Advances 7(18): eaaz5803 (doi:10.1126/sciadv.aaz5803); data: "Supplementary data for 'More than 1000 rivers…'", Figshare, doi:10.6084/m9.figshare.14515590 (mid-point scenario, 31,819 river outfalls, metric tons a year), licensed CC BY 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0). Country boundaries: Natural Earth 1:10m Admin 0 (public domain). Palanor sums the outfalls by country; the article's own country table (CC BY-NC) is not used.
China · Share of Global River Plastic Emitted to the Ocean · % (2015). Source: Palanor calculation (scripts/v23a/plastic/assign.py) from Meijer, L.J.J., van Emmerik, T., van der Ent, R., Schmidt, C. and Lebreton, L. (2021), "More than 1000 rivers account for 80% of global riverine plastic emissions into the ocean", Science Advances 7(18): eaaz5803 (doi:10.1126/sciadv.aaz5803); data: "Supplementary data for 'More than 1000 rivers…'", Figshare, doi:10.6084/m9.figshare.14515590 (mid-point scenario, 31,819 river outfalls, metric tons a year), licensed CC BY 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0). Country boundaries: Natural Earth 1:10m Admin 0 (public domain). Palanor sums the outfalls by country; the article's own country table (CC BY-NC) is not used.
Indonesia · Share of Global River Plastic Emitted to the Ocean · % (2015). Source: Palanor calculation (scripts/v23a/plastic/assign.py) from Meijer, L.J.J., van Emmerik, T., van der Ent, R., Schmidt, C. and Lebreton, L. (2021), "More than 1000 rivers account for 80% of global riverine plastic emissions into the ocean", Science Advances 7(18): eaaz5803 (doi:10.1126/sciadv.aaz5803); data: "Supplementary data for 'More than 1000 rivers…'", Figshare, doi:10.6084/m9.figshare.14515590 (mid-point scenario, 31,819 river outfalls, metric tons a year), licensed CC BY 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0). Country boundaries: Natural Earth 1:10m Admin 0 (public domain). Palanor sums the outfalls by country; the article's own country table (CC BY-NC) is not used.
Myanmar · Share of Global River Plastic Emitted to the Ocean · % (2015). Source: Palanor calculation (scripts/v23a/plastic/assign.py) from Meijer, L.J.J., van Emmerik, T., van der Ent, R., Schmidt, C. and Lebreton, L. (2021), "More than 1000 rivers account for 80% of global riverine plastic emissions into the ocean", Science Advances 7(18): eaaz5803 (doi:10.1126/sciadv.aaz5803); data: "Supplementary data for 'More than 1000 rivers…'", Figshare, doi:10.6084/m9.figshare.14515590 (mid-point scenario, 31,819 river outfalls, metric tons a year), licensed CC BY 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0). Country boundaries: Natural Earth 1:10m Admin 0 (public domain). Palanor sums the outfalls by country; the article's own country table (CC BY-NC) is not used.
Brazil · Share of Global River Plastic Emitted to the Ocean · % (2015). Source: Palanor calculation (scripts/v23a/plastic/assign.py) from Meijer, L.J.J., van Emmerik, T., van der Ent, R., Schmidt, C. and Lebreton, L. (2021), "More than 1000 rivers account for 80% of global riverine plastic emissions into the ocean", Science Advances 7(18): eaaz5803 (doi:10.1126/sciadv.aaz5803); data: "Supplementary data for 'More than 1000 rivers…'", Figshare, doi:10.6084/m9.figshare.14515590 (mid-point scenario, 31,819 river outfalls, metric tons a year), licensed CC BY 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0). Country boundaries: Natural Earth 1:10m Admin 0 (public domain). Palanor sums the outfalls by country; the article's own country table (CC BY-NC) is not used.
Vietnam · Share of Global River Plastic Emitted to the Ocean · % (2015). Source: Palanor calculation (scripts/v23a/plastic/assign.py) from Meijer, L.J.J., van Emmerik, T., van der Ent, R., Schmidt, C. and Lebreton, L. (2021), "More than 1000 rivers account for 80% of global riverine plastic emissions into the ocean", Science Advances 7(18): eaaz5803 (doi:10.1126/sciadv.aaz5803); data: "Supplementary data for 'More than 1000 rivers…'", Figshare, doi:10.6084/m9.figshare.14515590 (mid-point scenario, 31,819 river outfalls, metric tons a year), licensed CC BY 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0). Country boundaries: Natural Earth 1:10m Admin 0 (public domain). Palanor sums the outfalls by country; the article's own country table (CC BY-NC) is not used.
Bangladesh · Share of Global River Plastic Emitted to the Ocean · % (2015). Source: Palanor calculation (scripts/v23a/plastic/assign.py) from Meijer, L.J.J., van Emmerik, T., van der Ent, R., Schmidt, C. and Lebreton, L. (2021), "More than 1000 rivers account for 80% of global riverine plastic emissions into the ocean", Science Advances 7(18): eaaz5803 (doi:10.1126/sciadv.aaz5803); data: "Supplementary data for 'More than 1000 rivers…'", Figshare, doi:10.6084/m9.figshare.14515590 (mid-point scenario, 31,819 river outfalls, metric tons a year), licensed CC BY 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0). Country boundaries: Natural Earth 1:10m Admin 0 (public domain). Palanor sums the outfalls by country; the article's own country table (CC BY-NC) is not used.
Thailand · Share of Global River Plastic Emitted to the Ocean · % (2015). Source: Palanor calculation (scripts/v23a/plastic/assign.py) from Meijer, L.J.J., van Emmerik, T., van der Ent, R., Schmidt, C. and Lebreton, L. (2021), "More than 1000 rivers account for 80% of global riverine plastic emissions into the ocean", Science Advances 7(18): eaaz5803 (doi:10.1126/sciadv.aaz5803); data: "Supplementary data for 'More than 1000 rivers…'", Figshare, doi:10.6084/m9.figshare.14515590 (mid-point scenario, 31,819 river outfalls, metric tons a year), licensed CC BY 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0). Country boundaries: Natural Earth 1:10m Admin 0 (public domain). Palanor sums the outfalls by country; the article's own country table (CC BY-NC) is not used.
Nigeria · Share of Global River Plastic Emitted to the Ocean · % (2015). Source: Palanor calculation (scripts/v23a/plastic/assign.py) from Meijer, L.J.J., van Emmerik, T., van der Ent, R., Schmidt, C. and Lebreton, L. (2021), "More than 1000 rivers account for 80% of global riverine plastic emissions into the ocean", Science Advances 7(18): eaaz5803 (doi:10.1126/sciadv.aaz5803); data: "Supplementary data for 'More than 1000 rivers…'", Figshare, doi:10.6084/m9.figshare.14515590 (mid-point scenario, 31,819 river outfalls, metric tons a year), licensed CC BY 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0). Country boundaries: Natural Earth 1:10m Admin 0 (public domain). Palanor sums the outfalls by country; the article's own country table (CC BY-NC) is not used.
Türkiye · Share of Global River Plastic Emitted to the Ocean · % (2015). Source: Palanor calculation (scripts/v23a/plastic/assign.py) from Meijer, L.J.J., van Emmerik, T., van der Ent, R., Schmidt, C. and Lebreton, L. (2021), "More than 1000 rivers account for 80% of global riverine plastic emissions into the ocean", Science Advances 7(18): eaaz5803 (doi:10.1126/sciadv.aaz5803); data: "Supplementary data for 'More than 1000 rivers…'", Figshare, doi:10.6084/m9.figshare.14515590 (mid-point scenario, 31,819 river outfalls, metric tons a year), licensed CC BY 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0). Country boundaries: Natural Earth 1:10m Admin 0 (public domain). Palanor sums the outfalls by country; the article's own country table (CC BY-NC) is not used.
Cameroon · Share of Global River Plastic Emitted to the Ocean · % (2015). Source: Palanor calculation (scripts/v23a/plastic/assign.py) from Meijer, L.J.J., van Emmerik, T., van der Ent, R., Schmidt, C. and Lebreton, L. (2021), "More than 1000 rivers account for 80% of global riverine plastic emissions into the ocean", Science Advances 7(18): eaaz5803 (doi:10.1126/sciadv.aaz5803); data: "Supplementary data for 'More than 1000 rivers…'", Figshare, doi:10.6084/m9.figshare.14515590 (mid-point scenario, 31,819 river outfalls, metric tons a year), licensed CC BY 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0). Country boundaries: Natural Earth 1:10m Admin 0 (public domain). Palanor sums the outfalls by country; the article's own country table (CC BY-NC) is not used.
Sri Lanka · Share of Global River Plastic Emitted to the Ocean · % (2015). Source: Palanor calculation (scripts/v23a/plastic/assign.py) from Meijer, L.J.J., van Emmerik, T., van der Ent, R., Schmidt, C. and Lebreton, L. (2021), "More than 1000 rivers account for 80% of global riverine plastic emissions into the ocean", Science Advances 7(18): eaaz5803 (doi:10.1126/sciadv.aaz5803); data: "Supplementary data for 'More than 1000 rivers…'", Figshare, doi:10.6084/m9.figshare.14515590 (mid-point scenario, 31,819 river outfalls, metric tons a year), licensed CC BY 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0). Country boundaries: Natural Earth 1:10m Admin 0 (public domain). Palanor sums the outfalls by country; the article's own country table (CC BY-NC) is not used.
Haiti · Share of Global River Plastic Emitted to the Ocean · % (2015). Source: Palanor calculation (scripts/v23a/plastic/assign.py) from Meijer, L.J.J., van Emmerik, T., van der Ent, R., Schmidt, C. and Lebreton, L. (2021), "More than 1000 rivers account for 80% of global riverine plastic emissions into the ocean", Science Advances 7(18): eaaz5803 (doi:10.1126/sciadv.aaz5803); data: "Supplementary data for 'More than 1000 rivers…'", Figshare, doi:10.6084/m9.figshare.14515590 (mid-point scenario, 31,819 river outfalls, metric tons a year), licensed CC BY 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0). Country boundaries: Natural Earth 1:10m Admin 0 (public domain). Palanor sums the outfalls by country; the article's own country table (CC BY-NC) is not used.
Guatemala · Share of Global River Plastic Emitted to the Ocean · % (2015). Source: Palanor calculation (scripts/v23a/plastic/assign.py) from Meijer, L.J.J., van Emmerik, T., van der Ent, R., Schmidt, C. and Lebreton, L. (2021), "More than 1000 rivers account for 80% of global riverine plastic emissions into the ocean", Science Advances 7(18): eaaz5803 (doi:10.1126/sciadv.aaz5803); data: "Supplementary data for 'More than 1000 rivers…'", Figshare, doi:10.6084/m9.figshare.14515590 (mid-point scenario, 31,819 river outfalls, metric tons a year), licensed CC BY 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0). Country boundaries: Natural Earth 1:10m Admin 0 (public domain). Palanor sums the outfalls by country; the article's own country table (CC BY-NC) is not used.
Dominican Republic · Share of Global River Plastic Emitted to the Ocean · % (2015). Source: Palanor calculation (scripts/v23a/plastic/assign.py) from Meijer, L.J.J., van Emmerik, T., van der Ent, R., Schmidt, C. and Lebreton, L. (2021), "More than 1000 rivers account for 80% of global riverine plastic emissions into the ocean", Science Advances 7(18): eaaz5803 (doi:10.1126/sciadv.aaz5803); data: "Supplementary data for 'More than 1000 rivers…'", Figshare, doi:10.6084/m9.figshare.14515590 (mid-point scenario, 31,819 river outfalls, metric tons a year), licensed CC BY 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0). Country boundaries: Natural Earth 1:10m Admin 0 (public domain). Palanor sums the outfalls by country; the article's own country table (CC BY-NC) is not used.
Venezuela · Share of Global River Plastic Emitted to the Ocean · % (2015). Source: Palanor calculation (scripts/v23a/plastic/assign.py) from Meijer, L.J.J., van Emmerik, T., van der Ent, R., Schmidt, C. and Lebreton, L. (2021), "More than 1000 rivers account for 80% of global riverine plastic emissions into the ocean", Science Advances 7(18): eaaz5803 (doi:10.1126/sciadv.aaz5803); data: "Supplementary data for 'More than 1000 rivers…'", Figshare, doi:10.6084/m9.figshare.14515590 (mid-point scenario, 31,819 river outfalls, metric tons a year), licensed CC BY 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0). Country boundaries: Natural Earth 1:10m Admin 0 (public domain). Palanor sums the outfalls by country; the article's own country table (CC BY-NC) is not used.
Tanzania · Share of Global River Plastic Emitted to the Ocean · % (2015). Source: Palanor calculation (scripts/v23a/plastic/assign.py) from Meijer, L.J.J., van Emmerik, T., van der Ent, R., Schmidt, C. and Lebreton, L. (2021), "More than 1000 rivers account for 80% of global riverine plastic emissions into the ocean", Science Advances 7(18): eaaz5803 (doi:10.1126/sciadv.aaz5803); data: "Supplementary data for 'More than 1000 rivers…'", Figshare, doi:10.6084/m9.figshare.14515590 (mid-point scenario, 31,819 river outfalls, metric tons a year), licensed CC BY 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0). Country boundaries: Natural Earth 1:10m Admin 0 (public domain). Palanor sums the outfalls by country; the article's own country table (CC BY-NC) is not used.
Algeria · Share of Global River Plastic Emitted to the Ocean · % (2015). Source: Palanor calculation (scripts/v23a/plastic/assign.py) from Meijer, L.J.J., van Emmerik, T., van der Ent, R., Schmidt, C. and Lebreton, L. (2021), "More than 1000 rivers account for 80% of global riverine plastic emissions into the ocean", Science Advances 7(18): eaaz5803 (doi:10.1126/sciadv.aaz5803); data: "Supplementary data for 'More than 1000 rivers…'", Figshare, doi:10.6084/m9.figshare.14515590 (mid-point scenario, 31,819 river outfalls, metric tons a year), licensed CC BY 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0). Country boundaries: Natural Earth 1:10m Admin 0 (public domain). Palanor sums the outfalls by country; the article's own country table (CC BY-NC) is not used.
Charts are drawn from Palanor's signal library and recomputed from source data on every view. Transformations (changes, indexing, year-on-year rates) are Palanor's.