The United States, the world's largest plastic polluter, recycles a mere 5% of its household plastic waste.

Around the world, the situation is slightly better, but a staggering 91% of plastic waste is still incinerated, landfilled, or mismanaged (e.g. dumped into the ocean).

As Visual Capitalist's Nick Routley details below, the graphic below, by Rosey Eason, using OECD data (via Our World in Data), paints a clear picture of the situation. Here's a global overview of how plastic waste is disposed of:

There is growing awareness of the world's plastic waste challenges, so why isn't that translating into higher rates of recycling?