The weight of plastic rubbish in the sea will outweigh that of fish there by 2050, according to a report to the World Economic Forum in Davos.
At least eight million tonnes of plastic materials get into the ocean each year, with packaging thought to be the worst offender, said a global study by the Ellen MacArthur Foundation fronted by the yachtswoman.
A weight of plastic equivalent to the amount held in one garbage lorry "is expected to increase to two per minute by 2030 and four per minute by 2050," if no action is taken, according to the report.
Available research estimates the presence of more than 150 million tonnes of plastics in the ocean today.
"In a business-as-usual scenario, the ocean is expected to contain one tonne of plastic for every three tonnes of fish by 2025, and by 2050, more plastics than fish," it said.
The report called for a revolution to include consumers and businesses to change the way plastics move through the planet.
"The public, private sector and civil society all need to mobilise to capture the opportunity of the new circular plastics economy," said Dominic Waughray of the World Economic Forum.
A sweeping change in the use of plastic packaging would require cooperation worldwide between consumer goods companies, plastic packaging producers, businesses involved in collection, cities, policymakers and other organisations, said the report.
It proposed creating an independent coordinating body for the initiative.
