The Story of Plastic: An industry exposé

The Story of Plastic is a feature length, documentary film, by Deia Schlosberg released in 2019 by The Story of Stuff Project. An eye opening watch, it reveals ‘the ugly truth of the plastics industry and the false solution of plastic recycling’, presenting us with the only answer: turning off the plastic tap.

We hear from journalists, activists, recycling companies, members of the ‘break free from plastic’ movement and communities on the front lines. Through their first-hand experiences, we learn of the impossible task of managing plastic waste, the varied health impacts of plastic production, and the false narrative pushed by the fossil fuel industry.

But we are also offered hope. We meet countless individuals and organisations, each fighting for the earth and its people.

Turning waste into profit

Our villains are quickly established within the opening scenes. Doomsday footage of huge islands of ocean plastic is cut with crackly infomercials from the plastics companies themselves, going back generations. When an industry head announces ‘new an.d better things for all’ the irony isn’t lost on us.

The companies that make plastic are the same ones that sell us fossil fuels: Exxon, Chevron, ConocoPhillips, Shell, Dow Dupont. It started out as a waste product: one that fossil fuels companies could either pay to dispose of or make into something profitable. This by-product of petroleum was made into plastic: a ‘miracle’ material that doesn’t break down

Their next step was to market plastic to people, selling the idea of a simpler, more hygienic, throwaway lifestyle. Glass, tin, ceramics and paper packaging were thrown out in favour of cheaper plastic alternatives - replacing our circular economy with more profitable single use plastics.

Problems at every stage of the plastic life cycle

We often talk about plastic waste but in reality, plastic affects the health of people and the planet at every step of its life cycle.

From extraction, transport and refining of natural gas to make plastic, to the distribution, consumption and finally the disposal of it, The Story of Plastic speaks to communities affected at every stage. Each step polluting our environment where local residents, most often marginalised communities, are paying the price. This is true of Karnes County where inhabitants have to drink bottled water sold and packaged by the very companies who are polluting their tap water.

We meet Elise Gerhart, a Huntington resident who fought against a pipeline being put through her local woods and Diane Wilson, who took Formosa Plastics Corp. to court for the constant nurdle spills polluting Cox Creek Estuary.

We hear from journalist Ranjit Devraj who lives next to Okhla Incinerator, in India, where unsegregated plastic waste is being burnt releasing toxic smoke and fly ash.

“The first thing we do when we get up is look out the window to see how much smoke is coming out of that plant. It’s like living next to a volcano.”

Meanwhile, a local Okhla doctor describes a huge surge in skin rashes, dermatitis, respiratory problems, infertility, cancers and more - all caused by the incinerator. As we see throughout the film, these health concerns are common around areas of gas extraction, petrochemical factories, incineration plants, and landfill sites.

Even recycling comes with environmental dangers, especially in smaller facilities in low income countries. Plastic is chopped up into chips, then rinsed with water and melted, releasing toxic chemicals into surrounding water and air.

Whose fault is plastic pollution?

The fossil fuel industry has manipulated the narrative for generations, by shifting blame from the companies themselves to local governments and us, the consumer.

Anti-littering campaigns like Keep America Beautiful purposely shift the blame to consumers, hiding the fact that certain people are profiting from this throwaway lifestyle. We see clips of industry leaders like Graham Van’t Hoff, the Vice President of Shell Chemicals saying “The challenge isn’t with plastics themselves, it is what happens after people use them.”

Many push the idea that the local governments in the Global South aren’t managing their waste properly. This narrative shields multinational corporations like Unilever, Nestle, and Procter & Gamble who heavily market single use plastic sachets to countries that don’t have the necessary recycling systems in place. (Countries that were probably using natural packaging and fresh food not so long ago.) On top of that we ship our plastic waste to these countries to be sorted, then blame them for the plastic in the sea.

There is a lot of greenwashing around ‘clean up’ programs like The Ocean Clean Up which has a lot of big money behind it. And then there’s the ‘Alliance to End Plastic Waste’, a coalition of fossil fuel companies pledging to invest $1.5 billion into collecting and recycling waste. Sounds good right? It might, until you realise that’s a minute fraction of the amount ($204 billion) that they’re investing in developing new petrochemical plants. The numbers just don’t add up.

Why recycling isn’t the answer

It’s often touted as the answer to the plastic problem but we can’t rely on recycling alone. Here’s why:

• There is already too much plastic in the world to be recycled and production is set to increase.

• Currently only 2 % of plastic is effectively recycled while 12% is downcycled into something less useful. (The rest goes to incineration (14%), landfill (40%), or ends up in the environment (32%).

• The vast majority of plastics cannot be recycled. Think multilayered packaging like sachets.

• Many countries or remote communities don’t have the infrastructure to collect and recycle plastic.

• Even though the Global North has more investment in recycling, much of our plastic waste is shipped off to smaller countries without the infrastructure to safely and effectively recycle.

Relying on plastic recycling to sort the problem is like emptying a bathtub with a teaspoon, while the tap is on full blast. Instead of bailing it out shouldn’t we turn off the tap?

How to turn off the plastic tap

It’s not all doom and gloom - there are answers. And if we can get enough people behind them, we can really make a change.

Change the conversation: First let’s stop blaming the consumer who isn’t given affordable and accessible options to shop plastic free. Though local governments and recycling companies could invest more in waste management infrastructure, this isn’t always a possibility, and won’t go far enough to sort the problem.

Ban single use plastics that pollute the most: By banning plastics that are easy to replace (like plastic bags, straws, cutlery and some packaging) we can quickly phase out a lot of unnecessary waste. Plastic bags have already been banned in many African countries, we should all follow suit.

Find plastic alternatives: Some plastics are harder to replace but there are many other materials both new and old that we can use. Governments can incentivise sustainable packaging with subsidies or tax breaks.

End fossil fuel subsidies: Well this one is a no brainer. We could be sending that money to renewables instead.

Polluter pays: Fossil fuels companies are driven by profit, they won’t do the right thing on their own. Let’s make them accountable for plastic waste by charging them for the waste management with EPR, Extended Producer Responsibility.

Move to a circular economy: A zero waste economy won’t happen overnight but with a collective push to create packaging that can be reused, repaired, composted or effectively recycled, we can start to really make a difference. (Contact you favourite brands to ask them about their packaging and check this map to find a zero waste shop near you.)