A new study estimates that more than 1 million tons of plastic waste from the United States does not end up where it should. The researchers say the U.S. generated 42 metric tons of plastic waste in 2016 the largest amount of any country in the world. Of that, between 2.7 percent and 5.3 percent was not burned, placed in landfills or otherwise correctly processed, the study found. The research was recently published in Science Advances. Between 1 to 2 million metric tons of plastic generated in America ended up being dropped on land or in rivers, lakes and oceans. Some U.S. plastic waste was shipped to other countries where it was not correctly disposed of, the study found.