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Plastic Wars
2020 · Film · documentary · 54 min
With the plastic industry expanding like never before and the crisis of ocean pollution growing, FRONTLINE and NPR investigate the fight over the future of plastics.
12 positivefrom 12 commenters
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14 comments on Hacker News
I highly recommend the documentary Plastic Wars (Frontline). It’s about how the plastics industry made a major marketing push for recycling starting in the 80s, in order to avoid plastic bans and ensure production continued to increase. It shifted the burden of plastic waste from producers to consumers, and we are essentially still in that conceptual space (at least in the US).
The problem with recycling is not sorting, it's that plastic being recyclable is a myth.[1]
1. https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/documentary/plastic-wars/
Good PBS Frontline show, Plastic Wars, about the recycling industry: https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/documentary/plastic-wars/
Recycling turned out just the way the plastic producers wanted it. Source - Frontline Documentary “Plastic Wars”. Full documentary at https://youtu.be/-dk3NOEgX7o.
> So all the people undermining the work by telling folk not to bother recycling their bottles isn't really helpful, unless you are trying to support the fossil fuel industry.
There is no 'work', plastic is cheap for the packager, expensive for our environment. The industry has setup a marketing compaign to divert attention away from all the externalized environmental costs of plastic.[0]
You are right that I want to undermine this effort because what I want is a full ban on single use-plastic outside medical/laboratory applications.
I highly recommend this PBS docu on the PR aspects around Plastic:
[0] https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/documentary/plastic-wars/
Coca-cola is the single one biggest plastic polluter, together with fishing industry.
I did my research, and I boycott everything I know it hurts the planet. Do you?
> Policy makers duped consumers ...
Not policy makers, but plastic producers bought politicans and public opinion. See the movie "Plastic wars", i did.
> You seem to have no understanding of the severity of things.
I do. I certainly do. I thought about it for a long time. I simply believe that you cannot both gluttonize and be angry at the world to be doing nothing. The change have to start somewhere.
That used to be the case, but the industry is incorporating more cheap plastics to harden against future projected fossil fuel revenue loss. On that topic, this PBS Frontline episode is a good resource: https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/film/plastic-wars/
Thanks for linking "The Story of Stuff". I remembered the content but forgot the title. I would look at how gasification is evolving for waste disposal.
So, who is responsible for improper disposal of waste? I would say that the end consumer has a responsibility to dispose waste correctly. However, it seems the ability to do so has been tainted by a horrible waste management system.
Plastic Wars: https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/film/plastic-wars/
Plastic is a cheap and versatile material. It is a by-product of an independently lucrative business; oil. I would love to see alternatives but, the development of sustainable packaging is hiding behind a research market barrier and the economic cost difference between the cheap "waste" product of oil. I hope consumer choice leads use to a better system... where those choices are informed and have influence.
Good documentary on this: https://frontlinetv.com/plastic-wars-full-film
PBS Frontline has a good documentary called Plastic Wars. It’s part conspiracy where the Petro Companies need alternative sources of $$$ since the Energy $$$ is drying up with the advent of Renewables and EVs
https://youtu.be/lXzee3tIZco
This originally aired on the PBS series Frontline in March. https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/film/plastic-wars/
Watching this made me very sad. I feel like I've been lied to my entire life. Of course, I'm also to blame for not spending more time seeking out the truth. Marketing is indeed very effective. This show changed my perspective and has made me want to redouble my efforts with regard to my impact on the environment.
Here is a recent Frontline on how the petro-chem industry fooled consumers: https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/film/plastic-wars/. Advocates may be gearing up for a lawsuit, similar to what happened to the cigarette companies.
Good doc here on how the plastic industry pushed for "recycling" laws so they could look like the good guys, but much of the stuff you see the recycling logo on can't in fact be recycled.
https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/film/plastic-wars/
If you want to have your eyes opened about just how little of the material you probably think you are recycling actually gets recycled, watch the recent Frontline episode called “Plastic Wars”.
The sad truth is that while recycling is worthwhile, it’s also a woefully insufficient solution that has been held up by the petroleum industry as a cure all to prevent a backlash against plastic. Even products that are labeled recyclable often aren’t once they are processed.
One thing that sticks with me (and this is just one representative example) is that almost none of those plastic salad containers that have overtaken supermarkets are ever recycled.
https://youtu.be/-dk3NOEgX7o