The pervasive influence of plastic in various economic sectors

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Plastics have infiltrated all economic domains from food packaging to clothing, indicating a deliberate strategy by the industry to establish itself across sectors. This strategy is intertwined with the broader efforts of the fossil fuel industry to maintain consumer reliance on plastic, even amidst increasing climate change concerns. The parallel between how the plastic industry concealed information on recycling viability and how oil and gas companies obscured the climate impact of fossil fuels is striking, emphasizing the interconnected nature of these industries and their shared implications.

Paris Marx is joined by Dharna Noor to discuss widely-held misconceptions about the effectiveness of plastic recycling and how industry lobbies invented them to protect the market for plastic products.

Dharna Noor is the fossil fuels and climate reporter at The Guardian.

Tech Won’t Save Us offers a critical perspective on tech, its worldview, and wider society with the goal of inspiring people to demand better tech and a better world. Support the show on Patreon.

The podcast is made in partnership with The Nation. Production is by Eric Wickham. Transcripts are by Brigitte Pawliw-Fry.

Also mentioned in this episode:

On Friday, March 8, Paris will be speaking with Ed Ongweso Jr. and Brian Merchant about Dune: Part Two and its connection to the growing Luddite movement. Watch it on our YouTube channel at 11am PT / 2pm ET / 7pm GMT.
Our conversation was based in part on the Center for Climate Integrity’s new report called “The Fraud of Plastic Recycling.”
Dharna reported on that report and has previously written about plastic materials ending up in landfills, fashion’s use of plastic, and the problem with replacing plastics with other disposables.
In 2018, Barack Obama said, “That whole ‘suddenly America’s like the biggest oil producer and the biggest gas,’ that was me, people.
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