Correction: Britain-Statistic of the Year story

LONDON (AP) — In a story Dec. 18 about the international statistic of the year, The Associated Press reported erroneously that a report about the proportion of plastic waste that has never been recycled was a U.N. report. The report was based on a study conducted for the National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis and published in Science Advances.

A corrected version of the story is below:

Scary statistic: 90.5 percent of plastic is not recycled

The burgeoning crisis in plastic waste has won the attention of the Royal Statistical Society, which chose 90.5 percent — the proportion of plastic waste that has never been recycled — as its international statistic of the year

LONDON (AP) — The world's burgeoning plastic waste crisis has won the attention of Britain's Royal Statistical Society, which chose 90.5 percent — the proportion of plastic waste that has never been recycled — as its international statistic of the year.

The society, which chooses a winner from nominations made by the public, picked the statistic generated in a National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis study based on the work of U.S. academics Roland Geyer, Jenna R Jambeck and Kara Lavender Law that was published in Science Advances.

Public awareness of the problem has been growing, particularly after filmmaker David Attenborough's documentary "Blue Planet II" showed sea turtles shrouded in plastic, among other horrors.

Geyer says he was honored by the accolade and hopes "it will help draw attention to the problem of plastic pollution that impacts nearly every community and ecosystem globally."