(Sergei Grits | The Associated Press) In this March 12, 2015 file photo, plastic trash is compacted into bales ready for further processing at the waste processing dump on the outskirts of Minsk, Belarus. A new massive study finds that production of plastic and the hard-to-breakdown synthetic waste is soaring in huge numbers. The study says since 1950, industry has made more than 9 billion tons of plastics. That’s enough to cover the entire country of Argentina ankle deep in the stuff.