Plastic Inc

‘Gripping and essential reading’ – TIM SPECTOR

‘A fascinating book that strips away lies and obfuscation to show what’s really happening in the world.’ – OLIVER BULLOUGH

Plastic is everywhere in our daily lives. But the companies making it – oil and petrochemical giants like ExxonMobil and INEOS – are hiding in plain sight. Because for all the vivid coverage of where plastic ends up, there is remarkably little discussion of where it comes from. In a shocking investigative deep dive, packed with character-driven storytelling, award-winning journalist Beth Gardiner exposes the truth of the vast, rapacious industry flooding our world with plastic – and now preparing to make more than ever.

From the Gulf Coast of Texas to rural Indonesian villages, from the boardrooms to the rubbish dumps, Gardiner gives us an up-close look at the plastic industry’s relentless growth, its extraordinary profits, its toxic pollution, and its hidden role in exacerbating climate change. Today, the industry is pouring billions of dollars into plans to double, and eventually triple, the amount of plastic it churns out, even as so many of us -aghast at this material’s out-of-control proliferation – try to use less. As Big Oil stares down a future of diminishing demand for fossil fuels, plastic has become its financial lifeline.

Plastic Inc is full of stunning revelations, including 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. Gardiner also uncovers the hidden health crisis caused by chemicals in the items we use every day, and scientists’ growing fear that microplastics may pose even greater dangers.

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

Author Biography

Beth Gardiner is an American journalist based in London. Her work has been published in outlets including The New York Times, The Guardian, National Geographic, The Washington Post, and Scientific American, and she’s a former longtime Associated Press reporter. Her first book, Choked: The Age of Air Pollution and the Fight for a Cleaner Future, was named one of 2019 best by The Guardian, and was a finalist for the National Association of Science Writers’ Science in Society book award.