Since the booming of the plastic industry, around the 1950's, an astonishing 9.2 billion tons of plastic have been produced. 6.9 billion tons have become waste and of those 6.3 billion tons were not recycled. It is hard to know exactly how much has ended up in the ocean but it is estimated that 14 million tons of plastic are dumped in coastal regions EACH YEAR. Let that sink in for a moment.