Plastic production is global annual output of primary plastics, compiled by Geyer et al. (2017) and extended by the OECD, distributed via Our World in Data. It counts polymer resin produced, not waste generated.

Material footprint per person (UN International Resource Panel, SDG 12.2.1, via OWID) is the total raw material — biomass, fossil fuels, metals and minerals — extracted worldwide to satisfy each person’s consumption, wherever in the world that extraction happens. It is the upstream measure of throughput behind all the waste below: it has risen from about 9 to 12 tonnes per person since 2000.

Fertiliser use (FAO, via OWID) is the global tonnage of synthetic nitrogen, phosphate and potash applied to farmland each year. It has multiplied roughly sixfold since 1961. The nutrients that boost crop yields also run off into rivers and seas, where they feed algal blooms and create oxygen-starved “dead zones” — the planetary boundary scientists call disrupted biogeochemical flows.

Freshwater use (IGB long-run reconstruction, via OWID) is the world’s total annual withdrawal of freshwater for farms, factories and homes, in cubic kilometres, reconstructed back to 1901. It has risen roughly sixfold over the century — overwhelmingly to irrigate crops — draining rivers, lakes and aquifers faster than they refill. The series ends in 2014 (the latest in this long-run compilation) and recent decades show a slowing, plateau-like trend.

The end-of-life breakdown is the OECD Global Plastics Outlook’s 2019 baseline: the share of plastic waste that is landfilled, mismanaged, incinerated or recycled, plus the estimated ~1.7 Mt/yr that reaches the ocean.

Municipal solid waste per person is from the World Bank’s What a Waste 2.0 (2018), grouped by national income. The gap between low- and high-income generation is the clearest signal that waste tracks consumption, not population.