Packaging is the source of 40% of the planet’s plastic waste—
Around 40% of the world’s plastic waste comes from packaging. Packaging also makes up a significant share in the three regions that generate the most plastic waste: the United States, Europe, and China.
Packaging accounts for 37% of total plastic waste in the United States. It’s 38% in Europe, and in China, it's 45%. Together, these regions account for 60% of global packaging waste generation. This data comes from the OECD Global Plastics Outlook.
These figures show the vast impact of packaging on global plastic waste.
(This Daily Data Insight was written by Veronika Samborska.)
Australia is replacing coal and gas power with solar and wind—
At the turn of the millennium, Australia got more than 80% of its electricity from coal. This has dropped to less than 50%.
The chart shows how the country’s electricity mix has changed in recent decades. The data comes from the Energy Institute’s Statistical Review of World Energy.
In the 2000s and early 2010s, coal was initially replaced by gas, with only moderate growth in solar and wind. But in the last five years, solar and wind have been deployed much more quickly. Gas is now on the decline, too. In 2023, solar overtook gas to become Australia’s second-largest electricity source.
While coal is declining, it still supplies much more of Australia’s power than most high-income countries.
(This Daily Data Insight was written by Hannah Ritchie.)