It is estimated that on average 4 to 12 million metric tonnes of plastic end up in the ocean each year. By 2050 it is widely reported that the amount of plastic in the sea will outweigh the amount of fish!
As devastating as this is, this does not come as a shock to a lot of us. Over the last few years, we have been shown how bad the problem is with plastic pollution, with the BBC series Blue Planet II really highlighting this to the whole nation. Since the launch of that series we have seen the government react with its 25-year environment plan, looking to ban wet wipes, plastic straws and reduce the use of plastic bags with most supermarkets already taking up the 5p charge.
As part of our MATERIALS series Design Insider wanted to investigate this subject further with our material expert Jim Biddulph looking at how design can combat the plastic problem. In our short documentary "Living With Plastic" we wanted to explore how design can help turn this plastic problem into a plastic solution…