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Gaps in quantifying environmental losses of plastics impede effective solutions

Ongoing plastics losses to marine, freshwater and terrestrial ecosystems continue to exacerbate the global environmental crisis. Variations in data, methods and assumptions across studies have led to inconsistent estimates of plastics losses and their ecological impacts. These estimates must now be improved to develop and deliver effective interventions.

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Fig. 1: Plastics losses to the environment and interactions between sinks.

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Correspondence to Vinay Yadav.

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Yadav, V., Fei, X., Arora, M. et al. Gaps in quantifying environmental losses of plastics impede effective solutions. Nat Rev Mater 10, 717–719 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41578-025-00802-5

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