Table 1 Top 20 polluting rivers as predicted by the global river plastic inputs model.

From: River plastic emissions to the world’s oceans

Catchment

Country

Lower mass input estimate (t yr−1)

Midpoint mass input estimate (t yr−1)

Upper mass input estimate (t yr−1)

Total catchment surface area (km2)21

Yearly average discharge (m3 s−1)21

Yangtze

China

3.10 × 105

3.33 × 105

4.80 × 105

1.91 × 106

1.58 × 104

Ganges

India, Bangladesh

1.05 × 105

1.15 × 105

1.72 × 105

1.57 × 106

2.08 × 104

Xi

China

6.46 × 104

7.39 × 104

1.14 × 105

3.89 × 105

5.53 × 103

Huangpu

China

3.35 × 104

4.08 × 104

6.73 × 104

2.62 × 104

4.04 × 102

Cross

Nigeria, Cameroon

3.38 × 104

4.03 × 104

6.5 × 104

2.38 × 103

2.40 × 102

Brantas

Indonesia

3.23 × 104

3.89 × 104

6.37 × 104

1.11 × 104

8.18 × 102

Amazon

Brazil, Peru, Columbia, Ecuador

3.22 × 104

3.89 × 104

6.38 × 104

5.91 × 106

1.40 × 105

Pasig

Philippines

3.21 × 104

3.88 × 104

6.37 × 104

4.07 × 103

2.07 × 102

Irrawaddy

Myanmar

2.97 × 104

3.53 × 104

5.69 × 104

3.77 × 105

5.49 × 103

Solo

Indonesia

2.65 × 104

3.25 × 104

5.41 × 104

1.58 × 104

7.46 × 102

Mekong

Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, China, Myanmar, Vietnam

1.88 × 104

2.28 × 104

3.76 × 104

7.74 × 105

6.01 × 103

Imo

Nigeria

1.75 × 104

2.15 × 104

3.61 × 104

7.92 × 103

2.79 × 102

Dong

China

1.57 × 104

1.91 × 104

3.17 × 104

3.33 × 104

8.54 × 102

Serayu

Indonesia

1.33 × 104

1.71 × 104

2.99 × 104

3.71 × 103

3.70 × 102

Magdalena

Colombia

1.29 × 104

1.67 × 104

2.95 × 104

2.61 × 105

5.93 × 103

Tamsui

Taiwan

1.16 × 104

1.47 × 104

2.54 × 104

2.68 × 103

1.08 × 102

Zhujiang

China

1.09 × 104

1.36 × 104

2.31 × 104

4.01 × 103

1.33 × 102

Hanjiang

China

1.03 × 104

1.29 × 104

2.19 × 104

2.95 × 104

7.35 × 102

Progo

Indonesia

9.80 × 104

1.28 × 104

2.29 × 104

2.24 × 103

2.79 × 102

Kwa Ibo

Nigeria

9.29 × 104

1.19 × 104

2.08 × 104

3.63 × 103

1.92 × 102

  1. Input rate estimates (in t yr−1) are representative of mismanaged plastic waste (MPW) production and catchment runoff. A lower, midpoint and upper estimate is calculated based on three regression analyses accounting for uncertainties in our field observations data set.
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