Why Plastic?

The recycling myth (1x2)

Air date: Feb 01, 2022

In the last few years the plastic pollution crisis has become an international scandal with pictures of dead animals, littered rivers, and polluted oceans shocking the world. The plastic packaging industry declares that recycling solves the problem and stamp their products with the words ‘100% recyclable’ to reassure consumers that their packaging purchases are guilt-free. But if it is really the solution, why is the world pumping out more virgin plastic than ever before? It is greenwashing? We follow the money into an industry that’s designed to hide the problem rather than solve it, such as black-market brokers and organised criminals who hunt for countries to dump our plastic. It is now as lucrative as human trafficking. We also how some of the biggest consumer-goods brands spin the recycling fairytale as a way to allow them to continue polluting without consequence.