The Mortal Project

About The Mortal Project

A real-time window into humanity's waste generation — and a call to action for a cleaner world.

Our Mission

The Mortal Project was created with a simple but urgent goal: to make the invisible visible. Every day, humanity generates millions of metric tons of waste — waste that damages ecosystems, contributes to climate change, and creates public health hazards for vulnerable communities.

By showing waste generation in real time, The Mortal Project aims to build awareness, provide accessible data, and encourage action at every level — from individual choices to corporate policy to international governance.

The counter ticking on our homepage isn't just a number. It's a challenge: can we bend the curve?

Live Waste Counter

Country-level real-time waste generation calculated from verified annual tonnage data, updating every 100ms based on elapsed time since local midnight.

Country Comparison

Side-by-side live comparison of up to 4 countries with charts, per-capita analysis, and auto-generated insights.

Expert Analysis

In-depth articles exploring plastic pollution, e-waste, food waste, and global recycling policies — written for a general audience.

Waste Composition

Per-country waste type breakdowns showing organic, plastic, paper, glass, metal, e-waste, and other categories with live sub-counters.

Methodology & Data

The waste generation figures on The Mortal Project are based on published research from major international organizations. Country-level daily tonnage figures are derived from annual estimates published in the World Bank's What a Waste 2.0 report and the UNEP Global Waste Management Outlook.

The real-time counter calculates waste generated since local midnight using a simple formula:

tonsGenerated = (tonsPerDay ÷ 86400) × secondsSinceMidnight

This is an approximation. In reality, waste generation is not uniform throughout the day — it peaks during business hours and decreases overnight. The counter is intended for educational and awareness purposes, not for precise measurement.

Waste composition percentages are based on global averages from the UNEP and country-specific data where available. These figures are updated periodically as new research is published.

Data Sources

View Live Waste Counter