Big Oil pushed plastic into our lives and then sold us myths about recycling

Plastic is absolutely everywhere! Volunteer litterpickers and Amey are forever clearing up our streets,  but it is also in our soil, rivers, bodies and even our urine. 

On Tuesday, 14th July, Sheffield’s amazing Action on Plastic group is hosting a meeting at the Sheffield Plate with award-winning author Beth Gardiner, who has written a book called Plastic Inc. Beth will be exposing the plastics industry, which stops at nothing to feed its voracious hunger for profit.

Plastic is choking our local rivers, littering the peaks around Sheffield, and piling up in our bins. But while we’re all told to dutifully sort our recycling and stop buying plastic bottles, the real culprits—oil and petrochemical giants like ExxonMobil and INEOS—are hiding in plain sight.

We see the vivid coverage of where plastic ends up, but there is a calculated, deafening silence around where it actually comes from.

Plastic Inc blows the lid off this vast, predatory industry that is flooding our world with plastic—and secretly preparing to pump out more than ever before.

The Global Blueprint of a Toxic Industry

From the Gulf Coast of Texas to the narrow streets of Antwerp and the glitz of Dubai, this exposure provides an up-close look at an industry built on relentless growth and staggering profits. But it comes at a devastating cost:

• Toxic Pollution: Churning out chemicals that poison local communities.
• Climate Chaos: Operating as a massive, hidden driver of global warming.
• The Corporate Survival Strategy: As the world slowly shifts toward green energy, Big Oil is contemplating a diminishing demand for fossil fuels. Their lifeline? Plastic.

While ordinary people are aghast at this out-of-control proliferation and desperately trying to use less, the plastic industry is pouring billions into plans to double, and eventually triple, the amount of plastic it churns out.

They aren’t winding down; they are ramping up. It’s time to stop looking just at the litter on our streets and start looking at the boardrooms fueling the crisis.

The book exposes how Big Oil pushed plastic into our lives and then sold us myths about recycling to ease our worries; how companies funded litter campaigns to blame us for the waste they were creating; and how they’ve poured cash and political muscle into fighting bans on single-use plastics. Beth Gardiner uncovers the hidden health crisis caused by chemicals in the items we use every day, and scientists’ growing fear that microplastics pose even greater dangers.

Plastic Inc is an extraordinary exposé of an industry that will stop at nothing to feed its voracious hunger for profit. 

Greg Hewitt, founder of Action for Plastic, said, “Whilst oil companies continue to keep us hooked on single-use plastic, we’re making connections in the Sheffield community to build the alternative. For us at the moment, that includes hiring our reusable cups to events, running sustainable markets, and educating people about the issues, giving them the tools to bring about the change we need for a sustainable future.”

Get your free ticket for the Beth Gardiner evening on Eventbrite today.