Waste Uncollected Pathways

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Total Plastic Waste Uncollected Going Into The Environment Overview

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Last updated May 19, 2026

Breakdown

Total Plastic Waste Uncollected Going Into The Environment Separated by Pathway

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Raw Data

Public observations only. Internal and placeholder rows are excluded by the public API.

Block	Year	Category	Value	Units	Type
Total Plastic Waste Uncollected Going Into The Environment Overview	2015	Direct Discard to Land	715.78	tonnes	Derived
Total Plastic Waste Uncollected Going Into The Environment Overview	2015	Direct Discard to Water	401.15	tonnes	Derived
Total Plastic Waste Uncollected Going Into The Environment Overview	2015	Open Burning	2,162.86	tonnes	Derived
Total Plastic Waste Uncollected Going Into The Environment Overview	2015	Total	3,279.79	tonnes	Derived
Total Plastic Waste Uncollected Going Into The Environment Overview	2016	Direct Discard to Land	716.16	tonnes	Derived
Total Plastic Waste Uncollected Going Into The Environment Overview	2016	Direct Discard to Water	401.36	tonnes	Derived
Total Plastic Waste Uncollected Going Into The Environment Overview	2016	Open Burning	2,164.01	tonnes	Derived
Total Plastic Waste Uncollected Going Into The Environment Overview	2016	Total	3,281.53	tonnes	Derived
Total Plastic Waste Uncollected Going Into The Environment Overview	2017	Direct Discard to Land	715.85	tonnes	Derived
Total Plastic Waste Uncollected Going Into The Environment Overview	2017	Direct Discard to Water	401.18	tonnes	Derived
Total Plastic Waste Uncollected Going Into The Environment Overview	2017	Open Burning	2,163.05	tonnes	Derived
Total Plastic Waste Uncollected Going Into The Environment Overview	2017	Total	3,280.08	tonnes	Derived
Total Plastic Waste Uncollected Going Into The Environment Overview	2018	Direct Discard to Land	714.62	tonnes	Derived
Total Plastic Waste Uncollected Going Into The Environment Overview	2018	Direct Discard to Water	400.49	tonnes	Derived
Total Plastic Waste Uncollected Going Into The Environment Overview	2018	Open Burning	2,159.33	tonnes	Derived
Total Plastic Waste Uncollected Going Into The Environment Overview	2018	Total	3,274.44	tonnes	Derived
Total Plastic Waste Uncollected Going Into The Environment Overview	2019	Direct Discard to Land	712.84	tonnes	Derived
Total Plastic Waste Uncollected Going Into The Environment Overview	2019	Direct Discard to Water	399.5	tonnes	Derived
Total Plastic Waste Uncollected Going Into The Environment Overview	2019	Open Burning	2,153.96	tonnes	Derived
Total Plastic Waste Uncollected Going Into The Environment Overview	2019	Total	3,266.3	tonnes	Derived
Total Plastic Waste Uncollected Going Into The Environment Overview	2020	Direct Discard to Land	712.89	tonnes	Derived
Total Plastic Waste Uncollected Going Into The Environment Overview	2020	Direct Discard to Water	399.53	tonnes	Derived
Total Plastic Waste Uncollected Going Into The Environment Overview	2020	Open Burning	2,154.11	tonnes	Derived
Total Plastic Waste Uncollected Going Into The Environment Overview	2020	Total	3,266.53	tonnes	Derived
Total Plastic Waste Uncollected Going Into The Environment Overview	2021	Direct Discard to Land	714.25	tonnes	Derived
Total Plastic Waste Uncollected Going Into The Environment Overview	2021	Direct Discard to Water	400.29	tonnes	Derived
Total Plastic Waste Uncollected Going Into The Environment Overview	2021	Open Burning	2,158.23	tonnes	Derived
Total Plastic Waste Uncollected Going Into The Environment Overview	2021	Total	3,272.77	tonnes	Derived
Total Plastic Waste Uncollected Going Into The Environment Overview	2022	Direct Discard to Land	716.36	tonnes	Derived
Total Plastic Waste Uncollected Going Into The Environment Overview	2022	Direct Discard to Water	401.47	tonnes	Derived
Total Plastic Waste Uncollected Going Into The Environment Overview	2022	Open Burning	2,164.61	tonnes	Derived
Total Plastic Waste Uncollected Going Into The Environment Overview	2022	Total	3,282.45	tonnes	Derived
Total Plastic Waste Uncollected Going Into The Environment Overview	2023	Direct Discard to Land	720.04	tonnes	Derived
Total Plastic Waste Uncollected Going Into The Environment Overview	2023	Direct Discard to Water	403.53	tonnes	Derived
Total Plastic Waste Uncollected Going Into The Environment Overview	2023	Open Burning	2,175.73	tonnes	Derived
Total Plastic Waste Uncollected Going Into The Environment Overview	2023	Total	3,299.31	tonnes	Derived
Total Plastic Waste Uncollected Going Into The Environment Overview	2024	Direct Discard to Land	723.66	tonnes	Derived
Total Plastic Waste Uncollected Going Into The Environment Overview	2024	Direct Discard to Water	405.56	tonnes	Derived
Total Plastic Waste Uncollected Going Into The Environment Overview	2024	Open Burning	2,186.65	tonnes	Derived
Total Plastic Waste Uncollected Going Into The Environment Overview	2024	Total	3,315.87	tonnes	Derived
Total Plastic Waste Uncollected Going Into The Environment Overview	2025	Direct Discard to Land	0	tonnes	Derived
Total Plastic Waste Uncollected Going Into The Environment Overview	2025	Direct Discard to Water	0	tonnes	Derived
Total Plastic Waste Uncollected Going Into The Environment Overview	2025	Open Burning	0	tonnes	Derived
Total Plastic Waste Uncollected Going Into The Environment Overview	2025	Total	0	tonnes	Derived
Total Plastic Waste Uncollected Going Into The Environment Separated by Pathway	2015	Direct Discard to Land	510.4	tonnes	Derived
Total Plastic Waste Uncollected Going Into The Environment Separated by Pathway	2015	Direct Discard to Water	16.06	tonnes	Derived
Total Plastic Waste Uncollected Going Into The Environment Separated by Pathway	2015	Open Burning	1,957.48	tonnes	Derived
Total Plastic Waste Uncollected Going Into The Environment Separated by Pathway	2015	Total	2,483.94	tonnes	Derived
Total Plastic Waste Uncollected Going Into The Environment Separated by Pathway	2016	Direct Discard to Land	510.67	tonnes	Derived
Total Plastic Waste Uncollected Going Into The Environment Separated by Pathway	2016	Direct Discard to Water	16.07	tonnes	Derived
Total Plastic Waste Uncollected Going Into The Environment Separated by Pathway	2016	Open Burning	1,958.52	tonnes	Derived
Total Plastic Waste Uncollected Going Into The Environment Separated by Pathway	2016	Total	2,485.26	tonnes	Derived
Total Plastic Waste Uncollected Going Into The Environment Separated by Pathway	2017	Direct Discard to Land	510.45	tonnes	Derived
Total Plastic Waste Uncollected Going Into The Environment Separated by Pathway	2017	Direct Discard to Water	16.06	tonnes	Derived
Total Plastic Waste Uncollected Going Into The Environment Separated by Pathway	2017	Open Burning	1,957.65	tonnes	Derived
Total Plastic Waste Uncollected Going Into The Environment Separated by Pathway	2017	Total	2,484.16	tonnes	Derived
Total Plastic Waste Uncollected Going Into The Environment Separated by Pathway	2018	Direct Discard to Land	509.57	tonnes	Derived
Total Plastic Waste Uncollected Going Into The Environment Separated by Pathway	2018	Direct Discard to Water	16.03	tonnes	Derived
Total Plastic Waste Uncollected Going Into The Environment Separated by Pathway	2018	Open Burning	1,954.29	tonnes	Derived
Total Plastic Waste Uncollected Going Into The Environment Separated by Pathway	2018	Total	2,479.89	tonnes	Derived
Total Plastic Waste Uncollected Going Into The Environment Separated by Pathway	2019	Direct Discard to Land	508.3	tonnes	Derived
Total Plastic Waste Uncollected Going Into The Environment Separated by Pathway	2019	Direct Discard to Water	15.99	tonnes	Derived
Total Plastic Waste Uncollected Going Into The Environment Separated by Pathway	2019	Open Burning	1,949.43	tonnes	Derived
Total Plastic Waste Uncollected Going Into The Environment Separated by Pathway	2019	Total	2,473.72	tonnes	Derived
Total Plastic Waste Uncollected Going Into The Environment Separated by Pathway	2020	Direct Discard to Land	508.34	tonnes	Derived
Total Plastic Waste Uncollected Going Into The Environment Separated by Pathway	2020	Direct Discard to Water	15.99	tonnes	Derived
Total Plastic Waste Uncollected Going Into The Environment Separated by Pathway	2020	Open Burning	1,949.56	tonnes	Derived
Total Plastic Waste Uncollected Going Into The Environment Separated by Pathway	2020	Total	2,473.89	tonnes	Derived
Total Plastic Waste Uncollected Going Into The Environment Separated by Pathway	2021	Direct Discard to Land	509.31	tonnes	Derived
Total Plastic Waste Uncollected Going Into The Environment Separated by Pathway	2021	Direct Discard to Water	16.02	tonnes	Derived
Total Plastic Waste Uncollected Going Into The Environment Separated by Pathway	2021	Open Burning	1,953.29	tonnes	Derived
Total Plastic Waste Uncollected Going Into The Environment Separated by Pathway	2021	Total	2,478.62	tonnes	Derived
Total Plastic Waste Uncollected Going Into The Environment Separated by Pathway	2022	Direct Discard to Land	510.82	tonnes	Derived
Total Plastic Waste Uncollected Going Into The Environment Separated by Pathway	2022	Direct Discard to Water	16.07	tonnes	Derived
Total Plastic Waste Uncollected Going Into The Environment Separated by Pathway	2022	Open Burning	1,959.06	tonnes	Derived
Total Plastic Waste Uncollected Going Into The Environment Separated by Pathway	2022	Total	2,485.95	tonnes	Derived
Total Plastic Waste Uncollected Going Into The Environment Separated by Pathway	2023	Direct Discard to Land	513.44	tonnes	Derived
Total Plastic Waste Uncollected Going Into The Environment Separated by Pathway	2023	Direct Discard to Water	16.15	tonnes	Derived
Total Plastic Waste Uncollected Going Into The Environment Separated by Pathway	2023	Open Burning	1,969.13	tonnes	Derived
Total Plastic Waste Uncollected Going Into The Environment Separated by Pathway	2023	Total	2,498.72	tonnes	Derived
Total Plastic Waste Uncollected Going Into The Environment Separated by Pathway	2024	Direct Discard to Land	516.02	tonnes	Derived
Total Plastic Waste Uncollected Going Into The Environment Separated by Pathway	2024	Direct Discard to Water	16.23	tonnes	Derived
Total Plastic Waste Uncollected Going Into The Environment Separated by Pathway	2024	Open Burning	1,979.01	tonnes	Derived
Total Plastic Waste Uncollected Going Into The Environment Separated by Pathway	2024	Total	2,511.26	tonnes	Derived
Total Plastic Waste Uncollected Going Into The Environment Separated by Pathway	2025	Direct Discard to Land	0	tonnes	Derived
Total Plastic Waste Uncollected Going Into The Environment Separated by Pathway	2025	Direct Discard to Water	0	tonnes	Derived
Total Plastic Waste Uncollected Going Into The Environment Separated by Pathway	2025	Open Burning	0	tonnes	Derived
Total Plastic Waste Uncollected Going Into The Environment Separated by Pathway	2025	Total	0	tonnes	Derived

Methodology

Waste Uncollected Pathways · version 1

# waste_uncollected_pathways Commercial Direct Discard to Water Direct Discard to Land Open Burning Total Tourism Fisheries Calculations for Plastic Waste Uncollected - Pathways to Direct Environmental Pollution Sources and Raw Data Formal Waste Collection Rates Source Link Author Year of Study Industry Env Pathway Original % New % Note Sum National Census FBOS 2017 Households Water 443 households out of 191,910 total households (but need to remove 5,402 households from the total for their composting which does not happen with plastic). Land 14,081 households out of 191,910 total households (but need to remove 5,402 households from the total for their composting which does not happen with plastic). Burning 54,003 households out of 191,910 total households (but need to remove 5,402 households from the total for their composting which does not happen with plastic). Plastic Waste Free Islands: IUCN Plastic Waste National Level Quantification and Sectoral Material Flow Analysis APWC (IUCN) 2021 Data Estimated from Figure 8. Plastic Waste Generated per Industry (Taken from the Plastic Waste Generated Tab of the Baseline Inventory) Commercial Organisations Tourism Organisations Fisheries Organisations Plastic Waste Uncollected - Direct Discard to Water Pathways (Waste Generated X Water %) Plastic Waste Uncollected - Direct Discard to Land Pathways (Waste Generated X Land %) Plastic Waste Uncollected - Opening Burning (Waste Generated X Burning %) Check with Waste Generated and Uncollected Waste Total Uncollected Plastic Waste Total Plastic Waste in Environment Difference Methodology To calculate the quantity of uncollected plastic waste going directy into the environmnent, the waste generated was multiplied by the number of households, commercial, tourism and fisheries that either dump waste directly in water, land or openly burn them. The plastic waste in environment was also compared against the total uncollected plastic waste to identify the amount of waste that is unaccounted for. The Check with Waste Generated and Uncollected Waste to see if the net difference is not over. Limitations The FBOS National Census is a survey that allowed for multiple choice, indicating that the number of households which selected Burning, Burying in yard/bush or ocean/river may have been double counted in their data. The FBOS National Census does not ask households how much (weight or percentage) of their waste goes to the Burning, Burying or Ocean/River. Therefore, we assume that 100% of the waste from the household is disposed although this is rarely the case. Relies on accurate waste generated data. The difference between uncollected waste and total plastic waste in the environment should be 0. Any number higher could indicate another form of environmental pollution or practices such as reusing etc.