As the global population has climbed from 2.56 billion in 1950 to nearly 8 billion in 2020, the world's waste has grown to the point of being what many experts call an environmental crisis. According to the World Bank, more than 2.2 billion tons (2 billion metric tons) of waste and garbage are produced every year. This has created, and continues to create, serious environmental problems for the world's land and oceans.