Earth Action announces the arrival of Plastic Overshoot Day – the symbolic date when the plastic waste the world generates surpasses its capacity to manage it.
As Plastic Overshoot Day arrives on 5 September (the same date as last year), Earth Actions says all plastic waste produced for the final 117 days of the year will not be properly managed.
The Plastic Overshoot Day report from Earth Action For Impact, a Swiss-based research consultancy, found that almost 80% of the global population already live in areas where plastic waste has exceeded their waste management capacity.
In 2025, Plastic Overshoot Day arrives with 225 million tonnes of plastic waste set to be generated, an increase of five million tonnes of waste since 2024.
On average, 28kg of plastic waste per person will be generated globally this year, according to the report, a 9.7% increase since 2021.
The report also found that almost a third of the plastic generated will be mismanaged at the end of its life, resulting in 72 million tonnes of plastic in nature.
This year’s Plastic Overshoot Day follows the collapse of what was supposed to be the final round of UN negotiations to secure an international, legally binding treaty on plastic pollution.
The UN Plastics Treaty would represent the world’s first comprehensive effort to regulate plastic on a global scale.
Plastic pollution is actively impacting the business environment through increased state regulation, litigation against companies, and mounting liabilities…
Commenting on the report, Sarah Perreard, Co-CEO, at EA Earth Action: “While multilateral negotiations continue to stall, plastic pollution is actively impacting the business environment through increased state regulation, litigation against companies, and mounting liabilities.
“The financial case for action is clear: companies that measure, disclose, and reduce plastic risks today will differentiate themselves and build resilience, while those who delay will face the costs of inaction tomorrow.”
Now in its third year, the Plastic Overshoot Day report analysed plastic waste across packaging, textiles and household products.
Packaging accounted for 33% of plastic production, followed by textiles (17%) and other short-lifetime plastics (5%).
The report draws on data by Plasteax, now transitioning into the Packaging Data Hub, a multi-material data platform developed by Earth Action and systems-change consultancy Systemiq.
Ambarish Mitra, CEO of Greyparrot, commented: “Yet again, the UN plastics treaty discussions have come to an unsuccessful and frustrating end. We are back to square one: whilst it plays a vital role, we know full well that reliance on recycling and other downstream mitigation is not enough.
“One thing getting in our way is that we still have no true grasp of the scale of the problem. Dealing with decades of underinvestment in waste infrastructure, CPG companies and world leaders are largely unaware of what actually gets recycled, and what gets lost.
“We need to integrate data infrastructure into our waste and material recovery systems as a priority, so we can properly understand what is happening to our plastic waste.”