The Story of Plastic (2019) Movie Script
1
[ water rushing ]
[ birds chirping ]
Reporter:
Here's a scene that has long
Since ceased causing
any surprise.
The womenfolk washing dishes
made of plastic.
Dishes that bounce
when they drop to the floor.
Hard to realize it,
but it was only 10 years ago
That the first pound of
polystyrene plastic was sold
Narrator: And the chemical age
is just dawning.
These few things, my friends,
Are only a hint of what american
industry holds in the future.
Yes, mylar's properties are
right in its molecules
And with them are coming new
and better things for us all.
Today will be a better day
for a lot of people
Simply because of a material
we call plastic.
Chapman:
This industry is well positioned
to build on our accomplishments
To shape a sustainable
and prosperous future.
In summary, we believe
the best is yet to come.
-- Captions by vitac --
Captions paid for by
discovery communications
Carpenter:
I think, like many people,
I had noticed
A real surge of attention
and interest
In the issue
of plastic pollution.
This sort of all came about from
conversations with activists
Who are working
on plastics issues.
Oftentimes what I do
is ask people
That are close to an issue,
How they feel about
the media coverage.
And one thing I was
consistently hearing
Was that there was a gap
in coverage
When it came to
the front end of the story.
So there was a ton of attention
around the final stage
Of the plastics lifecycle
When it actually
becomes pollution,
But not as many people
were telling the story
About where plastic comes from.
You can never solve
the plastic waste crisis
Just by dealing with it
as a waste issue.
Who is making the plastics
in the first place and why?
Blair:
History of plastics began
over 30 million years ago
When intense heat,
natural chemical changes,
And tremendous pressures
created
By the shifting
of the earth's crust
Formed the substance needed
to make plastic --
Petroleum.
Muffett: 99% of what goes
into plastics is fossil fuels,
And so unsurprisingly, the same
companies that make plastics
Are also the companies
that sell us fossil fuels --
Exxon, chevron, conoco phillips,
shell, and dow dupont,
Which in addition to being
a major chemicals company,
Is also a major player
in oil and gas.
Plastics were initially
a waste product.
The company could either pay
To dispose
of the leftovers responsibly
Or it could turn them
into a new product.
Miller:
Oil companies compete
with each other
In taking the petroleum
molecule apart
And rearranging it
into...
Well, you name it --
Fabric's, toothbrushes, tires,
insecticides, cosmetics,
Weed killers,
A whole galaxy of things
to make a better life on earth.
Narrator:
Just as there are many kinds
of woods and metals,
So there are many
kinds of plastics.
This is plexiglass, too,
One of
the most fascinating
And beautiful of the new
plastic materials
Created by chemical science,
Ready to bring new beauty
and comfort to your home
And add charm to
your peace-time living.
Mafira:
Plastic is a miracle material.
When it was created,
It was hailed as the
biggest invention of the time.
It's extremely durable.
It lasts very, very long.
And so the reality is that
Because plastic has
all these good qualities,
It's extremely bad
for the environment.
I was a corporate lawyer
for six years,
And then I decided
to leave it to work on something
That I actually cared about
And where I actually had
a personal stake in the outcome.
15 years ago, I could
still go to a pristine beach
And collect seashells.
And it makes me sad to think
that some of the children
Born today,
and even my own daughter,
Won't have the memory
of a cleaner world.
I just want her to be aware
of why her world
Is the way it is
and that it could be better.
I feel like I don't know
how to answer anymore
When people say,
"why are you focusing on
plastic?
Why is plastic a problem?"
I mean, I feel like I should
just take them here
And not say anything,
Just take them here
and then see what they think,
Whether they think plastic bags
are not a problem anymore.
I can still remember a time
when I was still a teenager
And this wasn't a problem,
So we're not talking
about decades.
We're talking about
maybe 10 to 15 years
Of this kind of lifestyle.
A lot of
the single-use plastics
That end up
polluting our planet,
We only use them once
and they stay forever.
They're made of a material
that lasts forever.
They're not something
that we need
As an essential part
of our lives.
And yet, here we are,
stuck with it.
Russell:
Unfortunately, data are
coming back that plastics
Really are a significant
component of the waste
That enters the ocean,
so that's largely a matter
Of poorly or unmanaged
municipal solid waste.
In parts of the world,
Unlike here, where there is not
an infrastructure to gather
And appropriately dispose
of the waste.
I think what's most frustrating
is that the industries are out
There pushing the idea
that this is all
Because of bad management.
You know, that the waste is here
Because the government
isn't putting enough funding
Into proper waste management,
But they're distracting
from the truth,
Which is that there is no way
you can manage this waste.
It's not meant to be managed.
I think we should band together
And have a serious discussion
on a global scale
Because these companies
are operating on a global scale.
Sharma: The issue of waste
and plastic pollution,
It is about this deeply
embedded injustice
That really motivates me
to keep doing what I'm doing.
We are standing in ghazipur
d-block dairy farm
Next to the landfill,
which receives waste
From almost half of delhi.
Sharma: Plastic products
are only creating
A mountain of waste in india.
Reagan: Trash only becomes
trash after it
Has first served
a useful purpose.
The art of modern packaging
Has helped to make our outings
even more enjoyable.
But it is these
wonderful packages
Thoughtlessly discarded,
Which we carelessly
convert to litter.
Carpenter:
I think in a lot of discussions
Of various
environmental problems,
We put a lot of onus
on the consumer.
And that's an easy-to-digest
narrative,
Even though
it's very simplistic.
Narrator:
People start pollution.
People can stop it.
Carpenter: And I do think
that there is a place for that.
But I think that that often
has the effect
Of obscuring
the big structural issues
That are driving many of
these environmental problems
And the fact that the people
that are profiting
Off of creating
environmental issues
Are not being asked
to change their own behavior.
Grate:
On a personal level, I have
stopped using plastic bags
And plastic straws,
and that's a great thing,
But you realize
at the systematic level,
That doesn't change anything.
I grew up in an island
enjoying nature.
When I was in college,
I moved to manila to study.
The first thing that struck me
when I arrived here
Was the amount of waste
that's on the bay.
This is not what I want
for my island,
The place where I grew up,
and I know
If I don't do something,
that will happen.
Plastic pollution is really
a life and death issue
For most people, at least
in this part of the world.
Manila bay is like a cove,
And there's several provinces
located along that coastline,
So whatever the currents
bring in from outside,
They stay within that cove.
And whatever waste
Is deposited into the bay from
the rivers also stays there.
Every day, day in, day out,
This cleaning operations
going on.
It's unending.
You can do cleanups, and
the problem will not go away.
You have to look
at the root causes.
We can't be doing
cleanups all our lives.
This is not a solution.
We're a archipelagic country
And we depend on fish
and seafood for sustenance.
It is pretty much part of the
filipino lifestyle and culture.
60-40.
Hernandez;
the stuff we read about saying
There'll be more plastics in
the oceans than fish in 2050,
That's actually a reality
for most of these fishermen.
And a lot of this
is really unrecyclable plastics.
A great percentage are really
multi-layer packaging.
The sachets that you find like
this one,
You cannot recycle this.
Nobody bothers to collect them,
that's why they end up here.
Who bears the burden
of this pollution?
You have the marginal
communities,
Coastal communities, the fishing
communities, and the people,
The citizens who are forced,
through their taxes,
Shoulder the plastic cleanup.
These companies
have been able to get away
With it for many years now.
Bourque:
We got into recycling
Because we thought
it was the right thing to do.
Of course, it is
a disposal service.
At its core, it's taking stuff
that people don't want anymore
And trying to do something
better than landfill with it.
You can see the range of things
That are coming out
of people's houses.
10, 15 years ago,
This would have had
a lot more aluminum,
A lot more glass.
It's amazing how many things
have moved to plastic.
Mafira: People think plastic
can be recycled,
But actually, most plastic
is very hard to recycle.
So this is data from
the world economic forum.
It shows that 32%
of plastic packaging
Ends up littering
the environment,
40% is sitting
in a landfill somewhere,
14% is incinerated,
14% is recycled,
But only 2%
is effectively recycled.
Effectively recycled means that
it's recycled into something
That's actually as useful
as what it was before.
Most of it is down cycled,
Meaning that it becomes
something worse.
Unlike glass and metals,
Plastics degrade
when they're recycled.
Most recycled plastic
is only recycled
Once before ending up
in landfills,
Incinerators,
and the environment.
Cities around us
had kind of caved
To collect
all plastics campaign
Of the american chemistry
council.
Narrator: Plastics recycling
is pretty cool.
And today, we're recycling more
and more.
Recycling plastics is a fairly
simple process.
In 2013, under significant
pressure from our city council,
We began accepting non-bottle
mixed rigid plastic.
So all the plastic containers --
berry containers,
Keg cups, plastic cold cups,
you know, from starbucks.
Procter and gamble
wants us all to believe
That all their packaged goods
Are in totally environmentally
sound packaging.
They want us all using
single-use packaged products
So that we're just
on the supply chain.
It's totally unfair
to the cities
And the recyclers
on the back end
Because then everyone says,
"oh, it's recyclable.
You should collect it."
well, then what?
We have to pay to sort it,
we have to pay to process it,
And then we don't have
any markets for it.
Once we said
we would accept it
And we would start sorting it
and packing it for export,
It was just like
the floodgates were open.
I mean, the tons went up
and up and up and up and up.
Because china was buying it,
There actually was a market
for that stuff,
And even if we couldn't afford
to sort it out here,
We could bail it up
and ship it
In a shipping container
over there
And somebody over there
would sort it out.
Morawski: The united states
was shipping over 50%
Of its plastics to china.
The situation was
very similar in europe.
We were just shipping it
all to china.
China will deal with it.
And we built up
these big recycling programs
And everything was
about recycle, recycle,
Recycle, recycle
is the solution to everything
Because we had china there.
So china has just said,
"you know what?
We're sick of being
a dumping ground
And we don't want this stuff
introduced into our country."
They're useless --
plastics.
Many of them
are single-use containers,
Low value plastics, films.
So in general,
we see this as a positive.
This gives a chance to upgrade
our recycling industry.
The chinese waste ban
has really been
A shocking event for europe.
People didn't know that
their recycled plastic
Was actually being
shipped to china.
The waste that used to be
shipped elsewhere
Is now here for us to deal with
and we have to confront it,
Because in europe, we really
have plastic waste piling up.
Morawski: I see the china thing
as a reckoning
Because it's all been
this false market
Where we've just been
shipping stuff to china.
Bourque: It starts backing up.
It's not getting exported,
So what's going
to happen with it?
When the ban happened in china,
businessmen went to thailand,
Vietnam, or other countries.
Bourque: A year ago,
china was taking 10 times
The amount of plastic
they're taking today.
And that is a massive
amount of plastic.
So if you think we're just
going to take it from china
And ship it to thailand
or indonesia or vietnam,
They don't have that
kind of capacity today.
So whatever
kind of infrastructure
Is being developed
has got to be pretty ad hoc.
You know, could range
from somebody's backyard
To a partly covered warehouse,
and that is very concerning.
From u.S.
It's texas.
Yeah, it's from australia.
It's from toronto.
Toronto.
These are nestl from u.K.
Yeah, this one from oregon,
from oregon.
From new zealand,
dunkin' donut.
Radok is unilever.
Teavana.
What do you think somebody
is really going to do with this?
It's all different colors.
It's got film and plastic.
You got seven
different kinds of resin.
This stuff's been printed on,
so there's ink in the plastic.
You know what -- what are you
really going to make with it?
And they have to be able
to tell the difference
Between this clear plastic
and this clear plastic,
Which look the same to you
and me, but they're not.
And so, how do they do that?
They have special tests.
They can -- they can hear it,
Or they'll light it on fire
and smell the smoke.
That's got to be good
for your health.
Bourque:
When you sort this stuff out,
The next thing then is to take
those sorted materials
And chip it up into
a little quarter-size flake,
Is what they call it,
and then wash it.
Well, what's happening
with all that wash water?
Is that just getting dumped into
somebody else's drinking water
Or is it being dumped
into an estuary
And polluting the estuary
with soaps and food and poisons?
And what about
when you melt the plastic?
Because the next thing you do
is you take that flake
And you melt it down
And extrude it out
into these long spaghetti chains
And then you chop those up
into little pellets or nurdles.
And when you melt it,
a lot of these plastics
Release toxic volatile organic
compounds, vocs,
That are not
good to breathe.
The problem is that there is
no place for this stuff to go.
The most difficult part of waste
sorting is done
By the waste picker who are
mostly women,
Mostly marginalized.
And they also get the least
benefit from the system.
If they were not there,
the entire recycling pyramid
Would have collapsed.
If we go back 16, 17 years,
There was not so much plastic
that was found.
It was mostly metal,
iron, aluminum.
Now they are doing
83 kind of separation
within plastic itself.
We had double digits
in asia pacific,
We have double digits
in other parts of the world.
But it's because you've got
a growing economy
And you've got
a change in markets.
People are moving
from fresh foods
That are not processed
to packaged.
Things like fast foods
packaged food, processed foods,
These are new to india because
indians like to eat fresh food.
India is a place where
people naturally reuse things,
Nothing was torn away.
It is not a throwaway society
Because it is not a consumerist
society to begin with.
That sense of thrift,
that sense of carefulness,
That respectful materials
is going away,
And that's a terrible loss.
We do need plastics,
But plastics can be used
for high-tech things.
Narrator: Plastic holds the
promise of a better world
From the ambulance
to the emergency room,
Plastics make it possible.
The industry likes to talk about
all the advanced products
And lifesaving devices
the plastics contribute to,
Which is true.
Narrator: From
heart valves to helmets,
Can you think of one material
that does more?
But what makes up the bulk
of demand for plastic right now
Is packaging.
Pieces of plastic
that will get used once
And thrown away
and never used again,
And in most cases,
never cleaned up.
Shibu k n:
The fast-moving consumer
goods in india.
Almost 100% are packed in
one-time use plastics.
For example, one rupee sachet
for a shampoo,
Or one rupee sachet with oil.
They want them essentially
to capture
The poor sectors of the market,
and to do that,
They came up with sachets.
Sachets are
multi-layers of materials --
Plastic, aluminum,
or a bit of paper,
It comes in small volume
for a single use
And is meant to be disposed
right after.
protects my clothes better
powerful bung will now
sell you downy
boom boom boom
The population pyramid
is so geared towards
Consumerism in the future,
and that must be exciting.
I just wondered
how high up the list
Of emerging markets
africa is for you.
It's very high up.
It's one of our growth
opportunities in the future.
Sharma: Our markets are just
flooded with this.
We already had
an existing system,
The previous traditional stores,
They were a perfect example
of alternate delivery system.
It's everything still unpacked.
I remember bringing glass
to buy soy sauce or oil
That we used for the day.
But now you have soy sauce,
You have oil
that comes in pouches
That are meant to be
thrown right after.
Shibu k n:
When these global companies
came in,
We were happy to see that.
Okay, we are also getting
the same quality of life
Enjoyed by the west.
And now we realize
that there is a double standard.
Alvars: Working in this global
movement is allowing us
To point out
the companies in europe,
When they have
this green discord,
And we can tell them this is
maybe what you're doing here,
But this is not
what you're doing
In other parts of the world.
And if you want to be credible,
You will have to align
your actions
Everywhere with
what you're saying.
So this is head and shoulders,
body ninja,
It's multi-layered,
it's non-recyclable.
And this is what we find
on the shelves in belgium
And in most of europe.
So the same product,
same brand, same company,
Different format,
recyclable bottle.
The producer has paid a fee
to cover
Part of the waste collection
and waste management costs.
While here, you have
absolutely nothing.
It's not covered at all.
So, yeah, in the very country
Where they have to implement
waste management
And waste collection system
and they need money
And funding to build
these infrastructures,
The producers are not
contributing
To the end of life
of this product,
While in europe applying
a double standard, they are.
Ironically, asia has been
identified
As a key source of the problem
of plastic pollution --
The oceans...
About 60% of plastic
in the ocean
Comes from five countries
in southeast asia.
Hernandez:
...When in fact the decisions
are made in the boardrooms
Of companies in the west.
There's a real problem of blame
When it comes
to plastic pollution.
When you have companies
like unilever,
Nestl,
and procter and gamble
And all of these
other multinationals
Going into these markets
Aggressively marketing single
service products on populations
That have no way
of dealing with it.
Maybe just not so long ago,
Everything was packaged
in natural products.
Maybe they live
on a tiny island
That doesn't have a formalized
system of waste collection.
And then you're saying
that they're at fault for this.
And on top of that,
We are shipping our waste
there to be treated.
This is absolutely
a western problem
That we have exported
to other parts of the world,
And now we have the cheek to say
that they are the problem.
Pampers?
No washing, no mess,
you just use them once.
Narrator: Pampers,
procter and gamble discovery
That makes
diapers old fashioned.
Just follow the directions
and flush away.
Carpenter:
One of the biggest questions
that we're facing is,
"how do we get
out of the fossil fuel economy?"
I've heard some criticism
That the concern
about plastic pollution
Is a distraction from the bigger
problem of climate change.
But my conclusion
from doing this
Reporting is it's all part
of the same problem.
Presently, we've discovered
that the seven most produced
And consumed types of plastic
produce greenhouse gases.
As plastic degrades
in the environment,
It would just be producing more
and more gases with time.
Alvars: We are really making
the connection
Between the plastics issue
And what's happening
with the climate movement
Because all of their efforts
can be completely offset
By the fact that the fossil fuel
That we're not using anymore
for transport and energy
Is now being used
to produce cheap plastics,
And it's going to be burnt
and is going to release
Co2 in the atmosphere.
Simon:
If we don't do things right,
All this plastic might end up
in incinerators.
And that's something
we'll have to watch closely.
It's a real danger.
More and more community leaders,
Entrepreneurs,
and people like you and me
Are starting to think
about trash
As a valuable energy resource.
It's called energy recovery,
and simply put,
It's the process that turns
solid waste into energy.
Sounds good, maybe,
But there's also
a lot of toxic crap in there
That you don't want in your air.
The first thing we do
when we get up is
Look out of the window
to see how much smoke
Is coming out of that plant.
It's like living
next to a volcano, actually.
You know, you never know.
Sometimes large copious
amounts of smoke
Come out of these two chimneys.
They can be seen
for miles around.
It burns 2,000 tons of
unsegregated waste per day.
A large component of that
is just plastic.
It's a cocktail of every kind
of dangerous thing
That you can think of --
Dioxins, furans, lead, cadmium,
mercury, all of that.
They send samples of
the flash to a lab in london,
They said, "please evacuate
immediately."
That's what it said.
Misra:
We have seen a lot of changes
since the incident at cayman.
You find a lot of people
who never ever had
Any respiratory problem,
They are coming
with respiratory distress.
Then there's severe dermatitis
And a lot of skin rashes,
which were not there before.
These dioxins cause infertility
and even long-term effects
On our fetuses.
They are hormone disrupters,
And also, they are carcinogenic.
And that is proven.
There's nothing to be proved.
It started so gradually that
we did not notice the process.
But now that we look back,
it's so clear.
I grew up here,
so I have a lot of memories
Attached to this place.
Before I remember,
we used to play outside,
And now, kids stopped
coming outside and playing.
So that is how we were caged
inside our own homes.
When I went to the doctor,
He told me
it looks from your lungs
That either you're a smoker
or you work in the mines.
Devraj: The plant projects
itself as doing a great service
To the community
by getting rid of their garbage,
But this is
the wrong way to do it.
The main thing
that this incinerator does
Is it reduces the volume
of your garbage,
So you're having
a mountain of garbage,
You have a hillock of fly ash
and bottom ash,
Which is very, very toxic.
[ coughing ]
They don't want
the recycling to happen.
They chase away
the waste pickers.
They need that plastic,
so they burn everything else.
Plastic burns
and burns very well
Because it's
made of petrochemicals.
They want you to
use more plastic
Because that's
what is their fuel.
It's basically our trash monster
that will just desperately eat
As much plastic as it can,
And not only will it be happy to
get non-recyclable packaging,
But all the plastic that's going
for recycling currently
Will essentially
be institutionally diverted,
Even if it's at the cost
of the environment,
Human development,
and economic inclusion.
Carpenter:
Groups that have been fighting
local struggles
Against particular segments
of the fossil fuel economy
Are now linking together
in this much broader movement
That looks at the whole chain
of damage
From resource extraction
to waste incinerators.
These disparate struggles
that seem unconnected --
A neighborhood
in the philippines
That's awash in plastic trash,
A pipeline in pennsylvania,
a single refinery in texas --
They're all part of this web
of plastics infrastructure
That is all working together
to massively increase
The amount of plastics
out in the world.
Bourque:
Why is it that we're seeing
so much more plastics
Entering the environment?
I just wanna say
one word to you.
Just one word...
Fracking.
It's making natural gas cheaper
than it's ever been.
We're talking about double
digit gains in businesses
That I didn't think had
even single-digit growth.
How are you putting up
these numbers?
Well, we have
a very focused team, jim.
We also built a lot of assets
on the u.S. Gulf coast
To take advantage
of shale gas.
Bush: The energy policy act of
2005, provides incentives
For oil refineries
to expand their capacity.
The bill includes tax incentives
To encourage new construction
of natural gas pipelines.
The united states,
north america sits on
A very large
hydrocarbon resource base.
When we see the fact that
we have low-priced natural gas,
Which we think will be around
for a long time,
That is leading to a flood
of new investments.
If we have availability
of cheap fossil fuel,
We're going to have availability
of dirty chemicals
And of cheap plastics.
Maximizing the value of all the
molecules
From a barrel crude oil,
That's been foundational
for how we've approached
The chemical business
for decades.
And this is where the show
In the totals, you know, comes
from -- comes from petrol,
Oil and gas.
-It's plastic.
-Is that a freaking straw?
I'm so sorry, baby.
Villa: Watt: I think people
don't necessarily think about
What plastics are made of,
where plastics come from,
Other than on the shelf of
like a grocery store
Or some sort of a market.
But the reality is that
the chemicals that are needed
To create plastics
come from the shale formations
From these oil
and gas pockets in the rock.
You can't talk about one
without the other.
In these oil and gas pockets,
You also have chemicals
like benzene and toulene
And ethyl benzene
and xylene
That are all extremely harmful
for your health.
Plastics doesn't just
cause pollution in the ocean
Or on the ground,
it's also causing pollution
Where it's coming from
at the point of extraction.
I work with community members
that are living 500 feet
From a facility that's
the size of a football field.
Now some of the residents
depend on medication
To get through the day because
their headaches are so bad,
Or they have chronic
respiratory issues
And so they can't breathe.
Their lives were
dramatically changed
Over a period of five
or six years.
Man: This is our dream home.
We thought we were
coming into a great area
To where we could
live out our years,
And then this stuff
started turning up.
You're not showing my face,
are you?
-No.
-Okay.
The pollution has gotten way
out of hand.
Everybody has to drink
bottled water.
There's a water well on my
place,
We don't we don't drink the
water because
We know damn well
we can't use that water.
We don't know what's coming out
of that flare,
And they won't tell us.
You know, I think
that these oil companies are --
They think
they're above the law.
Carpenter:
When we talk about a community
like karnes county,
We're talking about the effects
of extracting for the chemicals
That we need to make plastics.
Pompeo:
I spent a fair amount of time
in the oil and gas industry.
My time as secretary of state
isn't that far removed
From what I did
running that small company.
New drilling technology
and greater energy output
Are transforming american life
and lives all around the world.
It took our shale producers
and risk takers
And it took congress lifting
the oil export ban in 2015,
Which I voted for.
You should all see me
as I walk out and say thanks.
Carpenter:
I think the piece of reporting
that surprised me
The most for this story
was learning about
The scale of what's planned
For the upper ohio river valley,
so spanning pennsylvania,
Ohio, west virginia.
They're really talking about
A brand new
petrochemical corridor,
Which is unprecedented
in that area.
Come here.
Get over here. Get over here.
My name is elise gerhart.
I'm 31 years old.
I live in huntington,
pennsylvania.
I was born here, raised here.
My mom called me
to tell me happy birthday.
And then she informed me
that there was a company
Who wanted to build a pipeline
Through this property here
where I grew up.
So the mariner east project,
It's a project built
to transport natural gas liquids
To an industrial complex
near philadelphia.
Those would go from
the port there,
All the way across the atlantic
To a facility in scotland,
so that they can make plastic.
The company puts out
all kinds of propaganda,
Saying that the project
has something to do
With american energy
independence,
That it has to do with
People heating their homes
during the winter.
And none of that is true.
Narrator:
America relies on energy.
We get it to you safely.
We are sunoco pipeline.
Elise:
It makes me really angry
Because as soon as I started
doing research on this project,
It was very clear
what the intent was.
You know,
it's publicly available,
And yet, we have these judges
saying that those companies
Can take our property for their
own private use to make plastic.
I've only been paying attention
to pipelines for a couple years
And it seems to happen
every couple of months.
There's like an enormous
pipeline explosion,
Like a major incident.
I mean, people's houses
burning down,
People being severely injured
Reporter: A gas line
outside columbus, ohio,
Explodes,
destroying two homes...
Man: Did you see that explode?
Reporter:
Breaking news...
Firefighters are racing
to contain a deadly gas
Explosion in kentucky.
Flames spreading to homes,
forcing evacuations.
Elise:
I don't know what it's going
to feel like to try
And live here every day
knowing that a leak or explosion
Could happen
at any time with no warning
Because you can't see it,
you can't smell it,
You don't know
until it's too late.
Ellen sue:
If you look at the projected
blast zone area --
And I have to laugh
Because sunoco doesn't refer
to it as a blast zone area,
It's a buffer area --
is roughly 1,000 feet
On either side of the pipeline.
So from where the pipeline
is in relationship to our house,
We're well within
the blast zone area.
Elise: So myself and a couple
other people
Climbed into some of the trees
and occupy them
So that they couldn't
get them down.
And we had lots of people
just start coming through
Who wanted to help out.
But they try
to intimidate people.
I was followed to work.
They flew drones up
around the house
Just looking at everything.
Energy transfer partners
paid someone to create
This fake facebook page saying
that I was an eco terrorist
Trying to bring violence
into my community
And that I need to be stopped.
They put my partner on there,
They put friends
of ours on there.
They put our vehicles on there,
posted our address.
So I had people messaging us,
Threatening to rape us,
to kill us.
I'm not that strong that
that's not going to affect me.
They've got endless resources.
You know,
we have to live our lives,
Like I had to go to work.
So they came,
they cut down the trees.
Even if you can talk to people
and explain to them
That this isn't carrying home
heating fuel,
It's not carrying gasoline
for your car.
Then people start bringing
in these arguments
About plastic
and about how plastic
Is everywhere
in our everyday lives,
So we must need it.
I think people have a hard time
Picturing what life would
be like without plastic,
And that's where I think
more people are actually duped.
Arellano:
Houston is the home of the
largest petrochemical complex
In the nation.
This is what
plastic smells like.
This is what plastic feels like.
This is what plastic
looks like from our end.
Some of the daily emissions
include benzene, styrene,
1,3-butadiene, hydrogen sulfide,
hydrogen cyanide.
What we have tried
to put in place here is again,
Is a model that will ensure
that epa prioritizes chemicals.
Arellano:
Most of these chemicals
are not monitored
And there are more chemicals
That are delisted from epa's
watchlist than they are added.
I want to thank
administrator curry
From the epa,
All the great folks who have
helped us to clear the way
So that exxon mobil
Can make this
multi-billion dollar investment.
It's not uncommon to talk
to folks in the community
And have multiple stories
of childhood leukemia,
Brain cancer,
low birth weights, or sterility,
Lack of motor skills,
developmental issues,
Speech impediments.
We have reduced our air
emissions at this site
By about 50%.
I have never seen a project
With a better economic
and environmental story.
Arellano: Every time epa's
watchlist shrinks,
Air quality gets better.
Why?
Because it's not
being monitored.
Both of my parents
are immigrants.
They left mexico
to make our lives better.
Their parents left
the rural parts of mexico
To go into the cities
because life in rural mexico
Was difficult because
oil companies were going in...
That story isn't done.
There's another family
that's living with that,
And there's another family
that's living next to a refinery
And there is another family
that's struggling.
It takes outside organizations
to come in to inform residents
About what they are living with
on a daily basis.
So we are in the east end.
It is a cultural hub
For everything mexican.
You have the art,
you have the food.
It's a place
brimming with culture.
It's a beautiful place.
And we are down the street
from a valero plant.
That's what there is
a lot of here, a lot of plants.
I think the farthest that
I've ever lived from a planet
Has been 2 1/2 miles.
My friends are having kids
and it's, hey, you know,
So and so's kid has cancer,
so and so's kid has leukemia.
And it's sad that
that's our new normal.
I'm just going to start
running it through here.
Okay, I'm bringing it in.
Just see what we got.
Oh, god. Yeah. There's all kinds
of pellets.
Diane, you want this?
-Yeah, we'll take a sample.
We've found fish with pellets
in their gullets.
We've had oystermen who say
they --
When they're shucking open
an oyster,
They're finding
pellets inside it.
On the bay, you got
from formosa plastic,
We got invisto,
we got bp, we got dupont,
We've got dow chemical,
you add all of that up,
Easily, you can get
50 million gallons
A day of toxins
being discharged into estuaries.
Hamrick:
I worked 25 years at the plant
as a supervisor,
But I had to get out of there
Because I got tired
of the bull crap, lying for 'em
Because that's all you
do out there at that plant
Is lie.
And, you know,
nobody out there can speak.
They'll fire you right
on the spot.
Wilson: You can pull anything up
and find pellets.
See all the pellets?
It's covered in pellets.
You look down there,
there's a harbor down there.
There's no fish houses
anymore.
There's no shrimpers.
You gotta do something.
So we just started sampling.
And eventually,
we filed the suit.
When I first started,
I had a helicopter land
In my front yard,
shot and killed the dog.
Shot at the house, and then
my shrimp boat was sabotaged.
So, they did a few things.
I don't think my story
is unique at all.
I think there are thousands in
little rural communities
Where the company has a heavy
hand,
Especially along the gulf coast.
Muffett: What's going on here
in houston highlights
Not only the scale of the
problem, but its immediacy,
The oil and gas industry,
The american petroleum
institute,
The american chemistry council,
they see the shale gas boom
As a renaissance for plastics
and petrochemicals in the u.S.
Exxonmobil estimates that
the global demand for chemicals
Will double within
the next 20 years.
That's more than the forecast
for energy and gdp growth
Over the same period.
They're doubling down
on plastics.
I think they're worried
that we're going to stop burning
So much fossil fuel.
I hope that's their worry
and I hope they're right.
But I think they see plastic
as a way to hedge their bet.
Our expectation is
global fuel's demand growth
Will actually start to decline,
And so, where would you
anticipate additional growth
In one place
is petrochemical market.
Plastics and other
petrochemicals present
An opportunity for these big
integrated oil majors
To keep up demand.
And so we're really seeing
this trend towards investment
In the petrochemical space.
During the course
of these meetings,
President trump and members
of his cabinet agreed
The u.S.-Saudi partnership
should be taken to new heights.
Muffett:
The latest estimate from
the american chemistry council
Is that $194 billion
Will be invested in the u.S.
Into 325 new
Or expanded facilities for
petrochemicals,
Primarily for plastics
Between now and 2025.
That's a remarkable expansion.
We're already producing more
plastics in the united states
Than we can use.
So the question is,
"where is that plastic going?"
It's flowing to asia.
It's flowing to europe.
It's flowing into
every new product streams.
This highlights
a really fundamental truth
About the plastics crisis
and about plastics as a product.
To a far greater extent
than in any other product chain,
Plastics are driven
not by the demand for them,
But by the supply.
This is the story of plastics.
It is fossil fuels
finding a new form
And finding a new place
to flow through the economy.
This is a crisis that is
accelerating literally
By the day as we speak.
Exxon opens a new plant here.
Chevron builds
a new plant there.
Total builds yet another.
We're seeing the same thing
happened in the u.S. East coast,
We're seeing the same thing
happen in europe,
In the middle east, in china,
This buildout is going on
and it's going on now.
Once these plants are built,
The debt to build them
will already have been incurred,
And they will squeeze
every last ounce of plastic film
And plastic packaging
out of those plants
Until they crumble to dust.
We're back with an alarming
new report
That came out this past week
On the state of the world's
oceans,
Specifically the finding that
they contain far more plastic
Than scientists had first
thought.
Carpenter: The surge of
attention to plastic pollution
Is pretty striking.
Reporter: Searching for a fish,
But finding
an ocean of plastic trash,
Woglom:
About 8 million metric tons
go into the ocean every year.
That's the equivalent
of one city garbage truck
Dumping a load of plastic
into the ocean
Every minute of every day.
Narrator:
Celebrities urging people
to give up using things
Like plastic straws and cups.
By 2050,
there will be more plastic waste
In the world's oceans than fish.
Reporter:
These pictures after its death
show the 80 plastic bags
Found inside the whale.
[ speaking spanish ]
Reporter:
It's getting into the food
that we end up eating.
Reporter: The polyester fibers
that you take into your lungs,
They're small enough to cross
the blood brain barrier.
Reporter: The five gyres,
giant swirling bodies of water
Where plastic accumulates.
When I mention plastic
to younger people,
They say, "plastic
is that giant island
That's the size of
antarctica in an ocean,
And that's what plastic did,
it wrecked the environment."
But the world is still going
toward plastic.
We do have
a plastic waste problem.
And at this point in time,
I've never seen the industry
More aligned
about tackling that problem.
We've been working...
Mafira: They're mostly
making these statements
That are quite normative.
"we'll look into this.
We're committed."
The covestro industry has
products and processes
That can help address
these sustainability issues.
Narrator: We believe
in sustainable practices
And sustainable business growth.
Mafira:
But that hasn't translated into
what the step-by-step plan is.
Graham van't hoff, who's
the executive vice president
Of shell's chemical division
wrote...
And then he adds...
I can't speculate about
what the executives
At petrochemical companies
actually believe,
But it's certainly true that
in their communications
And their actions,
most of them indicate that,
While they
might generously offer
To help
with the cleanup problem,
There's nothing wrong
with the product
Or with the companies
that are making the product.
The fault lies with
the consumers and with countries
That have inadequate
waste recycling infrastructure.
I think everyone agrees
that plastic waste
Does not belong in the ocean
or the environment.
So I'm very happy
to announce today
The formation of the
"alliance to end plastic waste."
This can bring together
companies that make plastic
And those that handle plastic
after the consumer use.
We're ready to invest over
$1.5 billion
To identify projects
And fund projects to really
get at solving solutions.
Carpenter:
I think if you look at some of
the industry-backed plans,
The alliance
to end plastic waste,
They want to put significant
investment into recycling
And waste collection
infrastructure,
And that's great
where it happens.
But that's not going
to reach everywhere.
It's definitely not
on the same scale
Or even close to the scale
of the amount of plastic
That is projected to be produced
in the coming decade
Based upon all this new
investment in infrastructure.
The metaphor I use in the piece
is it's like trying to bail out
A bathtub with a teaspoon
while the tap is on full blast.
And certainly we see that
this distraction
Has been effective
in terms of media coverage.
There is a lot of coverage
about cleanup.
Whether it's the
big ocean cleanup
That has a lot of big money
behind it
Or whether it's smaller efforts,
Whether it's industry
investments in cleanup,
That definitely
has dominated the narrative.
That famous quote, "the future
of plastic is in the trash can."
It's no secret that the industry
has for decades understood
That the way to profit more
Is to get people
to use more plastic.
Their incentive is to get us
to use more,
And if we throw it away,
That creates p.R. Problems
for them.
But economically, it's great
If we just keep using
single-use products.
[ indistinct chatter ]
So, if we stop to pick up
everything on the way out there,
We'd never make it out
past the jetty,
So we have to leave
some things by the wayside.
I'm captain of the oceanographic
research vessel alguita
And founder of alguita
marine research and education.
I'm known for working well
off shore of the coastal ocean
In what are known
as the oceanic gyres.
In 1997, I decided
to take a shortcut
And cut across
this vast expanse,
Which was basically
a thousand miles in diameter.
And I couldn't come on deck
without seeing a single piece
Of plastic float by
within five minutes.
It's proliferated so fast,
within 20 years
From my time of discovering it
until today,
I feel I underestimated
the actual danger.
And the "aha" moment
was the first time
We threw that trawl
in the ocean and pulled it in.
It was full
of plastic fragments.
That's what blew my mind,
when we realized
No matter where you're gonna
throw that net and out here,
You're going to find that stuff.
So, we just
pulled in the trawl.
This is all plastic
that we caught
At the surface
of the ocean.
Wow. That's a lot.
You'll see
the nurdles,
Which are the preproduction
resin pellets
For majority of all of
our plastics we've ever owned.
It started out
as the nurdles.
Look at that separation
between the plastic layer.
Look how many different layers
there are of materials there.
See how the plastic
separating from that foil.
So, how easy do you think it is
for the recyclers to do that?
Oh, we love our sachets.
Just about anywhere
you look now,
You can find plastic
if you look,
Especially,
at the nano scale materials,
Which are now beginning to enter
into the web of life itself.
Ballent: When you realize
how widespread this issue is
And how small the particles are,
you realize that cleanup
Is really just a great way
to see how bad the problem is.
We cannot rely on it
as a solution.
Grate: There are solutions
that have been proven to work.
There are cities
working towards zero waste.
[ children laughing ]
My vision for the future is
all cities are going zero waste,
And that means
that all that we use,
All that they produce, can
either be composed or recycled,
And all cities have the capacity
to manage these composed
Of all of these recyclables.
Currently,
we still have residual waste.
These are products or packaging
That can neither be composed
nor recycled.
But the beauty of
a zero-waste program
Is that we are not hiding
these products.
If you are collecting resources
and not waste,
It's not expensive.
One example is san fernando city
in the philippines.
Without the zero-waste program,
San fernando would be spending
70 million pesos per year
Just to collect their waste
and dump it in a landfill.
With the zero-waste program.
They were able to reduce it
to 12 million.
That translates to about
58 million pesos savings
For one city alone.
There is only one solution
to manage garbage.
It's to implement
zero-waste money spend.
It's really a part
of the solution,
Economically
and for the environment.
We're proud of san fernando
with their 7% to 8%
Waste aversion.
But the reality is that you have
that remaining 22%
That san fernando cannot manage,
that no one can manage.
The zero-waste program allows us
to identify which products
Are beyond the capacity
of communities to manage.
Industries are going to have to
take this into account.
If their product
isn't able to be recycled,
Not not only
in the in the country
Where it's produced or designed,
But in the country
where it ends up,
Then they shouldn't be producing
that kind of product.
Man: Right now, we are having
a brand audit
In which we are trying
to identify
The brands which contribute
the most to plastic waste
Which is generated
at the household level.
We are trying to generate
enough baseline data
To enable the government
to take a stand
So that they can follow
guidelines for implementing epr
To fix extended
producer responsibility.
When we say "extended
producer responsibility,"
He try to transfer
the responsibility
Of handling discards of branded
products back to the producer.
For example, if you're buying
a packet of chips,
You had essentially buying
the chips and not packaging
Which comes along with it.
So, the manufacturer
should take the responsibility
For either collecting them back
Or should support the government
in treating them.
So, this is what we dream
by implementing
Extended producer
responsibility.
From what we see right here,
There are five main contributors
to the majority
Of the plastic waste generated.
Unilever, itc, nestl,
milman, and pepsico.
And we are getting
similar feedback
From different brands as their
collected all over the country
Where the same names are
coming up a the top brands.
Man: We know who they are.
He's been trying
to work with them.
They have to step up,
and they had to own the problem.
Hernandez: It cannot be forever
supporting the bottom line
Of this companies
that has got to stop now.
They need to be given the bill.
We've got to pass legislation,
And we've got to create
public opinion to reduce waste.
[ speaking foreign language ]
Simon: They have a role to play
if they want to adapt,
But if they don't adapt,
We should not expect
the coca colas or pepsi colas
Or unilevers of this world
to be there in 20 years.
To continue creating products
on the basis of petrochemicals
Is not embracing
the full potential
Of the opportunities
that we see elsewhere.
We're almost there
that you can create packaging
That has nothing to do
with plastics.
We're almost there.
If you can use less material,
For sure,
that's always number one.
But for everything else,
biodegradable
And bio-based plastic can be
a good solution in the future.
People always say, like,
"oh, molly, I thought of you.
I was at cvs, and I bought
A biodegradable shampoo bottle,"
and I'm like,
"I know exactly what you bought.
It's not biodegradable."
Just 'cause something's made
from corn or plants
Does not mean
it's biodegradable.
So, we see a lot of things
Like bio-p.E.T.
On the market, for instance.
And bio-p.E.T.
Is the same carbon chain
That's in conventional p.E.T.,
And you're not using
ancient fossil carbon
To make that material,
But it's
the exact same carbon chain.
It's not gonna be biodegradable.
So, those two things
are completely unrelated,
Biodegradable and bio-based.
But we really need to think
about both
What we're going up against,
the incumbent persistence,
Petrochemical-based plastics.
This is a massive
infrastructure challenge.
Morawski: If we really want
to completely transform
This industry,
we have to create that demand
And say to the producers,
"you must buy this much recycled
resin instead of virgin,
Then you're going to see demand.
Then you're going to see
investment in recycling.
Now, that being said,
it's not all about recycling.
I don't think we recycle
our way out of this problem.
We've got to reduce and reuse
our way out of this,
And that's definitely not what
Dow, and dupont,
and 3m, and target,
And procter & gamble,
and starbucks are thinking.
Simon: The question is,
are we going to see
A world of multinationals
in 20 or 30 years' time,
Or we want to see a world
where, actually,
You have a lot more
alternative delivery systems,
Business models that go
a lot more small scale,
And actually building
on the communities.
Priestland:
The world that I hope to see
Is one where your beauty-care
products or your drinks
Or whatever else
that you're buying
Is coming in reusable packaging,
And we have
more localized systems
So that we break free from these
huge, multinational companies
Who have massive supply chains
That force them to rely
on plastic packaging.
At least we can
turn off the tap, right?
That's the least
that we can do --
The very least that we can do.
People are thinking
that prevention is radical,
Something that comes
after recycling.
It's not it's supposed to be
the essential thing
To do first and foremost.
There has to be a policy.
That's the only way that you can
get massive-scale conversions
To single-use-plastic free.
[ machinery whirs down ]
Before we passed the plastic-bag
reduction law in california,
This would have been
full of plastic bags, too.
So, it's pretty awesome that
there aren't very many
'cause those plastic bags
are a nightmare.
They gummed up everything.
And it's a success story
that gives us some ideas
About how we might deal with
some of these other materials.
Timmermans:
What we did is we looked at
Which single-use-plastics items
Could be easily replaced
like straws,
Q-tips, plastic cutlery,
plastic plates, et cetera,
So we could ban those products.
And then you have products that
are not as easily replaceable.
There, you need
to help industry
To try and develop
other products
That could replace
these products.
And, also, what has been
very successful are programs
To recollect plastic bottles.
You get collection
of over 90%.
All these things combined
should be one strategy.
This is not a europe-centric
or western-centric issue.
In some african countries,
Governments are willing to be
more radical than europe
On single-use plastics.
Woman:
Rwanda is a role model.
Since the ban was introduced
10 years ago,
Countries around the world have
since also banned plastic bags.
Morawski:
The public is happy to hear
about these bans taking place.
And companies are really afraid.
They're suddenly realizing
this is really serious.
Without the legislation,
we have nothing.
Because then
you're asking corporations
To voluntarily
do the right thing.
They're not going to do that.
But if everybody is forced
to do it, they all have to pay,
They're going to come together,
And those costs that were
externalized in the past
And basically borne
by poor communities
Suffering with all this marine
litter or municipalities
Having to deal with expensive
recycling and disposal programs
Or large incinerators
that they have to keep feeding,
Those are externalized costs
That companies
are profiting from.
Now we're going to give them
back those costs and say,
"you know what?
It's your problem now.
You deal with it.
Are you still going
to do business
The same way
you do business now,
Or are you going to redesign
your product
So you're going to
reduce those costs
And it's actually going to be
more environmentally friendly?"
I believe we're at
a tipping point right now.
I've seen
more policy change globally
In the last 8 months
Than I've seen in 20 years
of my career
Because not only are governments
getting pissed off,
But companies are recognizing
They can't get away
with it anymore.
Carpenter:
So many parts of our economy,
So many places around the world
are dependent
On this relatively
small group of corporations
Who are making
a tremendous amount of money
Poisoning the rest of us.
And, so, figuring out
how to break out of that cycle.
That's the project
of our lifetime.
Bourque: Plastics are treated
as a product
That miraculously appears
from nowhere,
And it goes to nowhere.
That invisibility,
that magic nature of plastics
Is something that the oil
and gas industry has perpetuated
And promoted very effectively
for decades.
But what was once invisible
is becoming visible.
The plastic crisis doesn't start
When the plastics
enter the ocean.
It starts when the oil
and the gas leave the wellhead
And it keeps on being a problem
at every step along the way.
So, if you want
to stop plastics,
If you want to truly confront
the plastics crisis,
Fight to end
fossil-fuel subsidies.
Make companies accountable
for the lifecycle impacts
Of their products.
The moment that exxon,
the moment that shell,
The moment that chevron
and dow and dupont
Own the impacts
of these products,
The plastics crisis will be over
and not before then.
Now, it may be
a kind of a token idea,
But I think that circular
economy is possible.
Zero waste is possible.
Mafira:
It's not reasonable at all
That we continue to live
like this and expect to survive.
We're ruining the planet
that gives us life,
And we're ruining the oceans
that give us fish.
We're ruining the rivers
that give us clean water.
I don't think they can keep on
tricking people forever.
[ water rushing ]
[ birds chirping ]
Reporter:
Here's a scene that has long
Since ceased causing
any surprise.
The womenfolk washing dishes
made of plastic.
Dishes that bounce
when they drop to the floor.
Hard to realize it,
but it was only 10 years ago
That the first pound of
polystyrene plastic was sold
Narrator: And the chemical age
is just dawning.
These few things, my friends,
Are only a hint of what american
industry holds in the future.
Yes, mylar's properties are
right in its molecules
And with them are coming new
and better things for us all.
Today will be a better day
for a lot of people
Simply because of a material
we call plastic.
Chapman:
This industry is well positioned
to build on our accomplishments
To shape a sustainable
and prosperous future.
In summary, we believe
the best is yet to come.
-- Captions by vitac --
Captions paid for by
discovery communications
Carpenter:
I think, like many people,
I had noticed
A real surge of attention
and interest
In the issue
of plastic pollution.
This sort of all came about from
conversations with activists
Who are working
on plastics issues.
Oftentimes what I do
is ask people
That are close to an issue,
How they feel about
the media coverage.
And one thing I was
consistently hearing
Was that there was a gap
in coverage
When it came to
the front end of the story.
So there was a ton of attention
around the final stage
Of the plastics lifecycle
When it actually
becomes pollution,
But not as many people
were telling the story
About where plastic comes from.
You can never solve
the plastic waste crisis
Just by dealing with it
as a waste issue.
Who is making the plastics
in the first place and why?
Blair:
History of plastics began
over 30 million years ago
When intense heat,
natural chemical changes,
And tremendous pressures
created
By the shifting
of the earth's crust
Formed the substance needed
to make plastic --
Petroleum.
Muffett: 99% of what goes
into plastics is fossil fuels,
And so unsurprisingly, the same
companies that make plastics
Are also the companies
that sell us fossil fuels --
Exxon, chevron, conoco phillips,
shell, and dow dupont,
Which in addition to being
a major chemicals company,
Is also a major player
in oil and gas.
Plastics were initially
a waste product.
The company could either pay
To dispose
of the leftovers responsibly
Or it could turn them
into a new product.
Miller:
Oil companies compete
with each other
In taking the petroleum
molecule apart
And rearranging it
into...
Well, you name it --
Fabric's, toothbrushes, tires,
insecticides, cosmetics,
Weed killers,
A whole galaxy of things
to make a better life on earth.
Narrator:
Just as there are many kinds
of woods and metals,
So there are many
kinds of plastics.
This is plexiglass, too,
One of
the most fascinating
And beautiful of the new
plastic materials
Created by chemical science,
Ready to bring new beauty
and comfort to your home
And add charm to
your peace-time living.
Mafira:
Plastic is a miracle material.
When it was created,
It was hailed as the
biggest invention of the time.
It's extremely durable.
It lasts very, very long.
And so the reality is that
Because plastic has
all these good qualities,
It's extremely bad
for the environment.
I was a corporate lawyer
for six years,
And then I decided
to leave it to work on something
That I actually cared about
And where I actually had
a personal stake in the outcome.
15 years ago, I could
still go to a pristine beach
And collect seashells.
And it makes me sad to think
that some of the children
Born today,
and even my own daughter,
Won't have the memory
of a cleaner world.
I just want her to be aware
of why her world
Is the way it is
and that it could be better.
I feel like I don't know
how to answer anymore
When people say,
"why are you focusing on
plastic?
Why is plastic a problem?"
I mean, I feel like I should
just take them here
And not say anything,
Just take them here
and then see what they think,
Whether they think plastic bags
are not a problem anymore.
I can still remember a time
when I was still a teenager
And this wasn't a problem,
So we're not talking
about decades.
We're talking about
maybe 10 to 15 years
Of this kind of lifestyle.
A lot of
the single-use plastics
That end up
polluting our planet,
We only use them once
and they stay forever.
They're made of a material
that lasts forever.
They're not something
that we need
As an essential part
of our lives.
And yet, here we are,
stuck with it.
Russell:
Unfortunately, data are
coming back that plastics
Really are a significant
component of the waste
That enters the ocean,
so that's largely a matter
Of poorly or unmanaged
municipal solid waste.
In parts of the world,
Unlike here, where there is not
an infrastructure to gather
And appropriately dispose
of the waste.
I think what's most frustrating
is that the industries are out
There pushing the idea
that this is all
Because of bad management.
You know, that the waste is here
Because the government
isn't putting enough funding
Into proper waste management,
But they're distracting
from the truth,
Which is that there is no way
you can manage this waste.
It's not meant to be managed.
I think we should band together
And have a serious discussion
on a global scale
Because these companies
are operating on a global scale.
Sharma: The issue of waste
and plastic pollution,
It is about this deeply
embedded injustice
That really motivates me
to keep doing what I'm doing.
We are standing in ghazipur
d-block dairy farm
Next to the landfill,
which receives waste
From almost half of delhi.
Sharma: Plastic products
are only creating
A mountain of waste in india.
Reagan: Trash only becomes
trash after it
Has first served
a useful purpose.
The art of modern packaging
Has helped to make our outings
even more enjoyable.
But it is these
wonderful packages
Thoughtlessly discarded,
Which we carelessly
convert to litter.
Carpenter:
I think in a lot of discussions
Of various
environmental problems,
We put a lot of onus
on the consumer.
And that's an easy-to-digest
narrative,
Even though
it's very simplistic.
Narrator:
People start pollution.
People can stop it.
Carpenter: And I do think
that there is a place for that.
But I think that that often
has the effect
Of obscuring
the big structural issues
That are driving many of
these environmental problems
And the fact that the people
that are profiting
Off of creating
environmental issues
Are not being asked
to change their own behavior.
Grate:
On a personal level, I have
stopped using plastic bags
And plastic straws,
and that's a great thing,
But you realize
at the systematic level,
That doesn't change anything.
I grew up in an island
enjoying nature.
When I was in college,
I moved to manila to study.
The first thing that struck me
when I arrived here
Was the amount of waste
that's on the bay.
This is not what I want
for my island,
The place where I grew up,
and I know
If I don't do something,
that will happen.
Plastic pollution is really
a life and death issue
For most people, at least
in this part of the world.
Manila bay is like a cove,
And there's several provinces
located along that coastline,
So whatever the currents
bring in from outside,
They stay within that cove.
And whatever waste
Is deposited into the bay from
the rivers also stays there.
Every day, day in, day out,
This cleaning operations
going on.
It's unending.
You can do cleanups, and
the problem will not go away.
You have to look
at the root causes.
We can't be doing
cleanups all our lives.
This is not a solution.
We're a archipelagic country
And we depend on fish
and seafood for sustenance.
It is pretty much part of the
filipino lifestyle and culture.
60-40.
Hernandez;
the stuff we read about saying
There'll be more plastics in
the oceans than fish in 2050,
That's actually a reality
for most of these fishermen.
And a lot of this
is really unrecyclable plastics.
A great percentage are really
multi-layer packaging.
The sachets that you find like
this one,
You cannot recycle this.
Nobody bothers to collect them,
that's why they end up here.
Who bears the burden
of this pollution?
You have the marginal
communities,
Coastal communities, the fishing
communities, and the people,
The citizens who are forced,
through their taxes,
Shoulder the plastic cleanup.
These companies
have been able to get away
With it for many years now.
Bourque:
We got into recycling
Because we thought
it was the right thing to do.
Of course, it is
a disposal service.
At its core, it's taking stuff
that people don't want anymore
And trying to do something
better than landfill with it.
You can see the range of things
That are coming out
of people's houses.
10, 15 years ago,
This would have had
a lot more aluminum,
A lot more glass.
It's amazing how many things
have moved to plastic.
Mafira: People think plastic
can be recycled,
But actually, most plastic
is very hard to recycle.
So this is data from
the world economic forum.
It shows that 32%
of plastic packaging
Ends up littering
the environment,
40% is sitting
in a landfill somewhere,
14% is incinerated,
14% is recycled,
But only 2%
is effectively recycled.
Effectively recycled means that
it's recycled into something
That's actually as useful
as what it was before.
Most of it is down cycled,
Meaning that it becomes
something worse.
Unlike glass and metals,
Plastics degrade
when they're recycled.
Most recycled plastic
is only recycled
Once before ending up
in landfills,
Incinerators,
and the environment.
Cities around us
had kind of caved
To collect
all plastics campaign
Of the american chemistry
council.
Narrator: Plastics recycling
is pretty cool.
And today, we're recycling more
and more.
Recycling plastics is a fairly
simple process.
In 2013, under significant
pressure from our city council,
We began accepting non-bottle
mixed rigid plastic.
So all the plastic containers --
berry containers,
Keg cups, plastic cold cups,
you know, from starbucks.
Procter and gamble
wants us all to believe
That all their packaged goods
Are in totally environmentally
sound packaging.
They want us all using
single-use packaged products
So that we're just
on the supply chain.
It's totally unfair
to the cities
And the recyclers
on the back end
Because then everyone says,
"oh, it's recyclable.
You should collect it."
well, then what?
We have to pay to sort it,
we have to pay to process it,
And then we don't have
any markets for it.
Once we said
we would accept it
And we would start sorting it
and packing it for export,
It was just like
the floodgates were open.
I mean, the tons went up
and up and up and up and up.
Because china was buying it,
There actually was a market
for that stuff,
And even if we couldn't afford
to sort it out here,
We could bail it up
and ship it
In a shipping container
over there
And somebody over there
would sort it out.
Morawski: The united states
was shipping over 50%
Of its plastics to china.
The situation was
very similar in europe.
We were just shipping it
all to china.
China will deal with it.
And we built up
these big recycling programs
And everything was
about recycle, recycle,
Recycle, recycle
is the solution to everything
Because we had china there.
So china has just said,
"you know what?
We're sick of being
a dumping ground
And we don't want this stuff
introduced into our country."
They're useless --
plastics.
Many of them
are single-use containers,
Low value plastics, films.
So in general,
we see this as a positive.
This gives a chance to upgrade
our recycling industry.
The chinese waste ban
has really been
A shocking event for europe.
People didn't know that
their recycled plastic
Was actually being
shipped to china.
The waste that used to be
shipped elsewhere
Is now here for us to deal with
and we have to confront it,
Because in europe, we really
have plastic waste piling up.
Morawski: I see the china thing
as a reckoning
Because it's all been
this false market
Where we've just been
shipping stuff to china.
Bourque: It starts backing up.
It's not getting exported,
So what's going
to happen with it?
When the ban happened in china,
businessmen went to thailand,
Vietnam, or other countries.
Bourque: A year ago,
china was taking 10 times
The amount of plastic
they're taking today.
And that is a massive
amount of plastic.
So if you think we're just
going to take it from china
And ship it to thailand
or indonesia or vietnam,
They don't have that
kind of capacity today.
So whatever
kind of infrastructure
Is being developed
has got to be pretty ad hoc.
You know, could range
from somebody's backyard
To a partly covered warehouse,
and that is very concerning.
From u.S.
It's texas.
Yeah, it's from australia.
It's from toronto.
Toronto.
These are nestl from u.K.
Yeah, this one from oregon,
from oregon.
From new zealand,
dunkin' donut.
Radok is unilever.
Teavana.
What do you think somebody
is really going to do with this?
It's all different colors.
It's got film and plastic.
You got seven
different kinds of resin.
This stuff's been printed on,
so there's ink in the plastic.
You know what -- what are you
really going to make with it?
And they have to be able
to tell the difference
Between this clear plastic
and this clear plastic,
Which look the same to you
and me, but they're not.
And so, how do they do that?
They have special tests.
They can -- they can hear it,
Or they'll light it on fire
and smell the smoke.
That's got to be good
for your health.
Bourque:
When you sort this stuff out,
The next thing then is to take
those sorted materials
And chip it up into
a little quarter-size flake,
Is what they call it,
and then wash it.
Well, what's happening
with all that wash water?
Is that just getting dumped into
somebody else's drinking water
Or is it being dumped
into an estuary
And polluting the estuary
with soaps and food and poisons?
And what about
when you melt the plastic?
Because the next thing you do
is you take that flake
And you melt it down
And extrude it out
into these long spaghetti chains
And then you chop those up
into little pellets or nurdles.
And when you melt it,
a lot of these plastics
Release toxic volatile organic
compounds, vocs,
That are not
good to breathe.
The problem is that there is
no place for this stuff to go.
The most difficult part of waste
sorting is done
By the waste picker who are
mostly women,
Mostly marginalized.
And they also get the least
benefit from the system.
If they were not there,
the entire recycling pyramid
Would have collapsed.
If we go back 16, 17 years,
There was not so much plastic
that was found.
It was mostly metal,
iron, aluminum.
Now they are doing
83 kind of separation
within plastic itself.
We had double digits
in asia pacific,
We have double digits
in other parts of the world.
But it's because you've got
a growing economy
And you've got
a change in markets.
People are moving
from fresh foods
That are not processed
to packaged.
Things like fast foods
packaged food, processed foods,
These are new to india because
indians like to eat fresh food.
India is a place where
people naturally reuse things,
Nothing was torn away.
It is not a throwaway society
Because it is not a consumerist
society to begin with.
That sense of thrift,
that sense of carefulness,
That respectful materials
is going away,
And that's a terrible loss.
We do need plastics,
But plastics can be used
for high-tech things.
Narrator: Plastic holds the
promise of a better world
From the ambulance
to the emergency room,
Plastics make it possible.
The industry likes to talk about
all the advanced products
And lifesaving devices
the plastics contribute to,
Which is true.
Narrator: From
heart valves to helmets,
Can you think of one material
that does more?
But what makes up the bulk
of demand for plastic right now
Is packaging.
Pieces of plastic
that will get used once
And thrown away
and never used again,
And in most cases,
never cleaned up.
Shibu k n:
The fast-moving consumer
goods in india.
Almost 100% are packed in
one-time use plastics.
For example, one rupee sachet
for a shampoo,
Or one rupee sachet with oil.
They want them essentially
to capture
The poor sectors of the market,
and to do that,
They came up with sachets.
Sachets are
multi-layers of materials --
Plastic, aluminum,
or a bit of paper,
It comes in small volume
for a single use
And is meant to be disposed
right after.
protects my clothes better
powerful bung will now
sell you downy
boom boom boom
The population pyramid
is so geared towards
Consumerism in the future,
and that must be exciting.
I just wondered
how high up the list
Of emerging markets
africa is for you.
It's very high up.
It's one of our growth
opportunities in the future.
Sharma: Our markets are just
flooded with this.
We already had
an existing system,
The previous traditional stores,
They were a perfect example
of alternate delivery system.
It's everything still unpacked.
I remember bringing glass
to buy soy sauce or oil
That we used for the day.
But now you have soy sauce,
You have oil
that comes in pouches
That are meant to be
thrown right after.
Shibu k n:
When these global companies
came in,
We were happy to see that.
Okay, we are also getting
the same quality of life
Enjoyed by the west.
And now we realize
that there is a double standard.
Alvars: Working in this global
movement is allowing us
To point out
the companies in europe,
When they have
this green discord,
And we can tell them this is
maybe what you're doing here,
But this is not
what you're doing
In other parts of the world.
And if you want to be credible,
You will have to align
your actions
Everywhere with
what you're saying.
So this is head and shoulders,
body ninja,
It's multi-layered,
it's non-recyclable.
And this is what we find
on the shelves in belgium
And in most of europe.
So the same product,
same brand, same company,
Different format,
recyclable bottle.
The producer has paid a fee
to cover
Part of the waste collection
and waste management costs.
While here, you have
absolutely nothing.
It's not covered at all.
So, yeah, in the very country
Where they have to implement
waste management
And waste collection system
and they need money
And funding to build
these infrastructures,
The producers are not
contributing
To the end of life
of this product,
While in europe applying
a double standard, they are.
Ironically, asia has been
identified
As a key source of the problem
of plastic pollution --
The oceans...
About 60% of plastic
in the ocean
Comes from five countries
in southeast asia.
Hernandez:
...When in fact the decisions
are made in the boardrooms
Of companies in the west.
There's a real problem of blame
When it comes
to plastic pollution.
When you have companies
like unilever,
Nestl,
and procter and gamble
And all of these
other multinationals
Going into these markets
Aggressively marketing single
service products on populations
That have no way
of dealing with it.
Maybe just not so long ago,
Everything was packaged
in natural products.
Maybe they live
on a tiny island
That doesn't have a formalized
system of waste collection.
And then you're saying
that they're at fault for this.
And on top of that,
We are shipping our waste
there to be treated.
This is absolutely
a western problem
That we have exported
to other parts of the world,
And now we have the cheek to say
that they are the problem.
Pampers?
No washing, no mess,
you just use them once.
Narrator: Pampers,
procter and gamble discovery
That makes
diapers old fashioned.
Just follow the directions
and flush away.
Carpenter:
One of the biggest questions
that we're facing is,
"how do we get
out of the fossil fuel economy?"
I've heard some criticism
That the concern
about plastic pollution
Is a distraction from the bigger
problem of climate change.
But my conclusion
from doing this
Reporting is it's all part
of the same problem.
Presently, we've discovered
that the seven most produced
And consumed types of plastic
produce greenhouse gases.
As plastic degrades
in the environment,
It would just be producing more
and more gases with time.
Alvars: We are really making
the connection
Between the plastics issue
And what's happening
with the climate movement
Because all of their efforts
can be completely offset
By the fact that the fossil fuel
That we're not using anymore
for transport and energy
Is now being used
to produce cheap plastics,
And it's going to be burnt
and is going to release
Co2 in the atmosphere.
Simon:
If we don't do things right,
All this plastic might end up
in incinerators.
And that's something
we'll have to watch closely.
It's a real danger.
More and more community leaders,
Entrepreneurs,
and people like you and me
Are starting to think
about trash
As a valuable energy resource.
It's called energy recovery,
and simply put,
It's the process that turns
solid waste into energy.
Sounds good, maybe,
But there's also
a lot of toxic crap in there
That you don't want in your air.
The first thing we do
when we get up is
Look out of the window
to see how much smoke
Is coming out of that plant.
It's like living
next to a volcano, actually.
You know, you never know.
Sometimes large copious
amounts of smoke
Come out of these two chimneys.
They can be seen
for miles around.
It burns 2,000 tons of
unsegregated waste per day.
A large component of that
is just plastic.
It's a cocktail of every kind
of dangerous thing
That you can think of --
Dioxins, furans, lead, cadmium,
mercury, all of that.
They send samples of
the flash to a lab in london,
They said, "please evacuate
immediately."
That's what it said.
Misra:
We have seen a lot of changes
since the incident at cayman.
You find a lot of people
who never ever had
Any respiratory problem,
They are coming
with respiratory distress.
Then there's severe dermatitis
And a lot of skin rashes,
which were not there before.
These dioxins cause infertility
and even long-term effects
On our fetuses.
They are hormone disrupters,
And also, they are carcinogenic.
And that is proven.
There's nothing to be proved.
It started so gradually that
we did not notice the process.
But now that we look back,
it's so clear.
I grew up here,
so I have a lot of memories
Attached to this place.
Before I remember,
we used to play outside,
And now, kids stopped
coming outside and playing.
So that is how we were caged
inside our own homes.
When I went to the doctor,
He told me
it looks from your lungs
That either you're a smoker
or you work in the mines.
Devraj: The plant projects
itself as doing a great service
To the community
by getting rid of their garbage,
But this is
the wrong way to do it.
The main thing
that this incinerator does
Is it reduces the volume
of your garbage,
So you're having
a mountain of garbage,
You have a hillock of fly ash
and bottom ash,
Which is very, very toxic.
[ coughing ]
They don't want
the recycling to happen.
They chase away
the waste pickers.
They need that plastic,
so they burn everything else.
Plastic burns
and burns very well
Because it's
made of petrochemicals.
They want you to
use more plastic
Because that's
what is their fuel.
It's basically our trash monster
that will just desperately eat
As much plastic as it can,
And not only will it be happy to
get non-recyclable packaging,
But all the plastic that's going
for recycling currently
Will essentially
be institutionally diverted,
Even if it's at the cost
of the environment,
Human development,
and economic inclusion.
Carpenter:
Groups that have been fighting
local struggles
Against particular segments
of the fossil fuel economy
Are now linking together
in this much broader movement
That looks at the whole chain
of damage
From resource extraction
to waste incinerators.
These disparate struggles
that seem unconnected --
A neighborhood
in the philippines
That's awash in plastic trash,
A pipeline in pennsylvania,
a single refinery in texas --
They're all part of this web
of plastics infrastructure
That is all working together
to massively increase
The amount of plastics
out in the world.
Bourque:
Why is it that we're seeing
so much more plastics
Entering the environment?
I just wanna say
one word to you.
Just one word...
Fracking.
It's making natural gas cheaper
than it's ever been.
We're talking about double
digit gains in businesses
That I didn't think had
even single-digit growth.
How are you putting up
these numbers?
Well, we have
a very focused team, jim.
We also built a lot of assets
on the u.S. Gulf coast
To take advantage
of shale gas.
Bush: The energy policy act of
2005, provides incentives
For oil refineries
to expand their capacity.
The bill includes tax incentives
To encourage new construction
of natural gas pipelines.
The united states,
north america sits on
A very large
hydrocarbon resource base.
When we see the fact that
we have low-priced natural gas,
Which we think will be around
for a long time,
That is leading to a flood
of new investments.
If we have availability
of cheap fossil fuel,
We're going to have availability
of dirty chemicals
And of cheap plastics.
Maximizing the value of all the
molecules
From a barrel crude oil,
That's been foundational
for how we've approached
The chemical business
for decades.
And this is where the show
In the totals, you know, comes
from -- comes from petrol,
Oil and gas.
-It's plastic.
-Is that a freaking straw?
I'm so sorry, baby.
Villa: Watt: I think people
don't necessarily think about
What plastics are made of,
where plastics come from,
Other than on the shelf of
like a grocery store
Or some sort of a market.
But the reality is that
the chemicals that are needed
To create plastics
come from the shale formations
From these oil
and gas pockets in the rock.
You can't talk about one
without the other.
In these oil and gas pockets,
You also have chemicals
like benzene and toulene
And ethyl benzene
and xylene
That are all extremely harmful
for your health.
Plastics doesn't just
cause pollution in the ocean
Or on the ground,
it's also causing pollution
Where it's coming from
at the point of extraction.
I work with community members
that are living 500 feet
From a facility that's
the size of a football field.
Now some of the residents
depend on medication
To get through the day because
their headaches are so bad,
Or they have chronic
respiratory issues
And so they can't breathe.
Their lives were
dramatically changed
Over a period of five
or six years.
Man: This is our dream home.
We thought we were
coming into a great area
To where we could
live out our years,
And then this stuff
started turning up.
You're not showing my face,
are you?
-No.
-Okay.
The pollution has gotten way
out of hand.
Everybody has to drink
bottled water.
There's a water well on my
place,
We don't we don't drink the
water because
We know damn well
we can't use that water.
We don't know what's coming out
of that flare,
And they won't tell us.
You know, I think
that these oil companies are --
They think
they're above the law.
Carpenter:
When we talk about a community
like karnes county,
We're talking about the effects
of extracting for the chemicals
That we need to make plastics.
Pompeo:
I spent a fair amount of time
in the oil and gas industry.
My time as secretary of state
isn't that far removed
From what I did
running that small company.
New drilling technology
and greater energy output
Are transforming american life
and lives all around the world.
It took our shale producers
and risk takers
And it took congress lifting
the oil export ban in 2015,
Which I voted for.
You should all see me
as I walk out and say thanks.
Carpenter:
I think the piece of reporting
that surprised me
The most for this story
was learning about
The scale of what's planned
For the upper ohio river valley,
so spanning pennsylvania,
Ohio, west virginia.
They're really talking about
A brand new
petrochemical corridor,
Which is unprecedented
in that area.
Come here.
Get over here. Get over here.
My name is elise gerhart.
I'm 31 years old.
I live in huntington,
pennsylvania.
I was born here, raised here.
My mom called me
to tell me happy birthday.
And then she informed me
that there was a company
Who wanted to build a pipeline
Through this property here
where I grew up.
So the mariner east project,
It's a project built
to transport natural gas liquids
To an industrial complex
near philadelphia.
Those would go from
the port there,
All the way across the atlantic
To a facility in scotland,
so that they can make plastic.
The company puts out
all kinds of propaganda,
Saying that the project
has something to do
With american energy
independence,
That it has to do with
People heating their homes
during the winter.
And none of that is true.
Narrator:
America relies on energy.
We get it to you safely.
We are sunoco pipeline.
Elise:
It makes me really angry
Because as soon as I started
doing research on this project,
It was very clear
what the intent was.
You know,
it's publicly available,
And yet, we have these judges
saying that those companies
Can take our property for their
own private use to make plastic.
I've only been paying attention
to pipelines for a couple years
And it seems to happen
every couple of months.
There's like an enormous
pipeline explosion,
Like a major incident.
I mean, people's houses
burning down,
People being severely injured
Reporter: A gas line
outside columbus, ohio,
Explodes,
destroying two homes...
Man: Did you see that explode?
Reporter:
Breaking news...
Firefighters are racing
to contain a deadly gas
Explosion in kentucky.
Flames spreading to homes,
forcing evacuations.
Elise:
I don't know what it's going
to feel like to try
And live here every day
knowing that a leak or explosion
Could happen
at any time with no warning
Because you can't see it,
you can't smell it,
You don't know
until it's too late.
Ellen sue:
If you look at the projected
blast zone area --
And I have to laugh
Because sunoco doesn't refer
to it as a blast zone area,
It's a buffer area --
is roughly 1,000 feet
On either side of the pipeline.
So from where the pipeline
is in relationship to our house,
We're well within
the blast zone area.
Elise: So myself and a couple
other people
Climbed into some of the trees
and occupy them
So that they couldn't
get them down.
And we had lots of people
just start coming through
Who wanted to help out.
But they try
to intimidate people.
I was followed to work.
They flew drones up
around the house
Just looking at everything.
Energy transfer partners
paid someone to create
This fake facebook page saying
that I was an eco terrorist
Trying to bring violence
into my community
And that I need to be stopped.
They put my partner on there,
They put friends
of ours on there.
They put our vehicles on there,
posted our address.
So I had people messaging us,
Threatening to rape us,
to kill us.
I'm not that strong that
that's not going to affect me.
They've got endless resources.
You know,
we have to live our lives,
Like I had to go to work.
So they came,
they cut down the trees.
Even if you can talk to people
and explain to them
That this isn't carrying home
heating fuel,
It's not carrying gasoline
for your car.
Then people start bringing
in these arguments
About plastic
and about how plastic
Is everywhere
in our everyday lives,
So we must need it.
I think people have a hard time
Picturing what life would
be like without plastic,
And that's where I think
more people are actually duped.
Arellano:
Houston is the home of the
largest petrochemical complex
In the nation.
This is what
plastic smells like.
This is what plastic feels like.
This is what plastic
looks like from our end.
Some of the daily emissions
include benzene, styrene,
1,3-butadiene, hydrogen sulfide,
hydrogen cyanide.
What we have tried
to put in place here is again,
Is a model that will ensure
that epa prioritizes chemicals.
Arellano:
Most of these chemicals
are not monitored
And there are more chemicals
That are delisted from epa's
watchlist than they are added.
I want to thank
administrator curry
From the epa,
All the great folks who have
helped us to clear the way
So that exxon mobil
Can make this
multi-billion dollar investment.
It's not uncommon to talk
to folks in the community
And have multiple stories
of childhood leukemia,
Brain cancer,
low birth weights, or sterility,
Lack of motor skills,
developmental issues,
Speech impediments.
We have reduced our air
emissions at this site
By about 50%.
I have never seen a project
With a better economic
and environmental story.
Arellano: Every time epa's
watchlist shrinks,
Air quality gets better.
Why?
Because it's not
being monitored.
Both of my parents
are immigrants.
They left mexico
to make our lives better.
Their parents left
the rural parts of mexico
To go into the cities
because life in rural mexico
Was difficult because
oil companies were going in...
That story isn't done.
There's another family
that's living with that,
And there's another family
that's living next to a refinery
And there is another family
that's struggling.
It takes outside organizations
to come in to inform residents
About what they are living with
on a daily basis.
So we are in the east end.
It is a cultural hub
For everything mexican.
You have the art,
you have the food.
It's a place
brimming with culture.
It's a beautiful place.
And we are down the street
from a valero plant.
That's what there is
a lot of here, a lot of plants.
I think the farthest that
I've ever lived from a planet
Has been 2 1/2 miles.
My friends are having kids
and it's, hey, you know,
So and so's kid has cancer,
so and so's kid has leukemia.
And it's sad that
that's our new normal.
I'm just going to start
running it through here.
Okay, I'm bringing it in.
Just see what we got.
Oh, god. Yeah. There's all kinds
of pellets.
Diane, you want this?
-Yeah, we'll take a sample.
We've found fish with pellets
in their gullets.
We've had oystermen who say
they --
When they're shucking open
an oyster,
They're finding
pellets inside it.
On the bay, you got
from formosa plastic,
We got invisto,
we got bp, we got dupont,
We've got dow chemical,
you add all of that up,
Easily, you can get
50 million gallons
A day of toxins
being discharged into estuaries.
Hamrick:
I worked 25 years at the plant
as a supervisor,
But I had to get out of there
Because I got tired
of the bull crap, lying for 'em
Because that's all you
do out there at that plant
Is lie.
And, you know,
nobody out there can speak.
They'll fire you right
on the spot.
Wilson: You can pull anything up
and find pellets.
See all the pellets?
It's covered in pellets.
You look down there,
there's a harbor down there.
There's no fish houses
anymore.
There's no shrimpers.
You gotta do something.
So we just started sampling.
And eventually,
we filed the suit.
When I first started,
I had a helicopter land
In my front yard,
shot and killed the dog.
Shot at the house, and then
my shrimp boat was sabotaged.
So, they did a few things.
I don't think my story
is unique at all.
I think there are thousands in
little rural communities
Where the company has a heavy
hand,
Especially along the gulf coast.
Muffett: What's going on here
in houston highlights
Not only the scale of the
problem, but its immediacy,
The oil and gas industry,
The american petroleum
institute,
The american chemistry council,
they see the shale gas boom
As a renaissance for plastics
and petrochemicals in the u.S.
Exxonmobil estimates that
the global demand for chemicals
Will double within
the next 20 years.
That's more than the forecast
for energy and gdp growth
Over the same period.
They're doubling down
on plastics.
I think they're worried
that we're going to stop burning
So much fossil fuel.
I hope that's their worry
and I hope they're right.
But I think they see plastic
as a way to hedge their bet.
Our expectation is
global fuel's demand growth
Will actually start to decline,
And so, where would you
anticipate additional growth
In one place
is petrochemical market.
Plastics and other
petrochemicals present
An opportunity for these big
integrated oil majors
To keep up demand.
And so we're really seeing
this trend towards investment
In the petrochemical space.
During the course
of these meetings,
President trump and members
of his cabinet agreed
The u.S.-Saudi partnership
should be taken to new heights.
Muffett:
The latest estimate from
the american chemistry council
Is that $194 billion
Will be invested in the u.S.
Into 325 new
Or expanded facilities for
petrochemicals,
Primarily for plastics
Between now and 2025.
That's a remarkable expansion.
We're already producing more
plastics in the united states
Than we can use.
So the question is,
"where is that plastic going?"
It's flowing to asia.
It's flowing to europe.
It's flowing into
every new product streams.
This highlights
a really fundamental truth
About the plastics crisis
and about plastics as a product.
To a far greater extent
than in any other product chain,
Plastics are driven
not by the demand for them,
But by the supply.
This is the story of plastics.
It is fossil fuels
finding a new form
And finding a new place
to flow through the economy.
This is a crisis that is
accelerating literally
By the day as we speak.
Exxon opens a new plant here.
Chevron builds
a new plant there.
Total builds yet another.
We're seeing the same thing
happened in the u.S. East coast,
We're seeing the same thing
happen in europe,
In the middle east, in china,
This buildout is going on
and it's going on now.
Once these plants are built,
The debt to build them
will already have been incurred,
And they will squeeze
every last ounce of plastic film
And plastic packaging
out of those plants
Until they crumble to dust.
We're back with an alarming
new report
That came out this past week
On the state of the world's
oceans,
Specifically the finding that
they contain far more plastic
Than scientists had first
thought.
Carpenter: The surge of
attention to plastic pollution
Is pretty striking.
Reporter: Searching for a fish,
But finding
an ocean of plastic trash,
Woglom:
About 8 million metric tons
go into the ocean every year.
That's the equivalent
of one city garbage truck
Dumping a load of plastic
into the ocean
Every minute of every day.
Narrator:
Celebrities urging people
to give up using things
Like plastic straws and cups.
By 2050,
there will be more plastic waste
In the world's oceans than fish.
Reporter:
These pictures after its death
show the 80 plastic bags
Found inside the whale.
[ speaking spanish ]
Reporter:
It's getting into the food
that we end up eating.
Reporter: The polyester fibers
that you take into your lungs,
They're small enough to cross
the blood brain barrier.
Reporter: The five gyres,
giant swirling bodies of water
Where plastic accumulates.
When I mention plastic
to younger people,
They say, "plastic
is that giant island
That's the size of
antarctica in an ocean,
And that's what plastic did,
it wrecked the environment."
But the world is still going
toward plastic.
We do have
a plastic waste problem.
And at this point in time,
I've never seen the industry
More aligned
about tackling that problem.
We've been working...
Mafira: They're mostly
making these statements
That are quite normative.
"we'll look into this.
We're committed."
The covestro industry has
products and processes
That can help address
these sustainability issues.
Narrator: We believe
in sustainable practices
And sustainable business growth.
Mafira:
But that hasn't translated into
what the step-by-step plan is.
Graham van't hoff, who's
the executive vice president
Of shell's chemical division
wrote...
And then he adds...
I can't speculate about
what the executives
At petrochemical companies
actually believe,
But it's certainly true that
in their communications
And their actions,
most of them indicate that,
While they
might generously offer
To help
with the cleanup problem,
There's nothing wrong
with the product
Or with the companies
that are making the product.
The fault lies with
the consumers and with countries
That have inadequate
waste recycling infrastructure.
I think everyone agrees
that plastic waste
Does not belong in the ocean
or the environment.
So I'm very happy
to announce today
The formation of the
"alliance to end plastic waste."
This can bring together
companies that make plastic
And those that handle plastic
after the consumer use.
We're ready to invest over
$1.5 billion
To identify projects
And fund projects to really
get at solving solutions.
Carpenter:
I think if you look at some of
the industry-backed plans,
The alliance
to end plastic waste,
They want to put significant
investment into recycling
And waste collection
infrastructure,
And that's great
where it happens.
But that's not going
to reach everywhere.
It's definitely not
on the same scale
Or even close to the scale
of the amount of plastic
That is projected to be produced
in the coming decade
Based upon all this new
investment in infrastructure.
The metaphor I use in the piece
is it's like trying to bail out
A bathtub with a teaspoon
while the tap is on full blast.
And certainly we see that
this distraction
Has been effective
in terms of media coverage.
There is a lot of coverage
about cleanup.
Whether it's the
big ocean cleanup
That has a lot of big money
behind it
Or whether it's smaller efforts,
Whether it's industry
investments in cleanup,
That definitely
has dominated the narrative.
That famous quote, "the future
of plastic is in the trash can."
It's no secret that the industry
has for decades understood
That the way to profit more
Is to get people
to use more plastic.
Their incentive is to get us
to use more,
And if we throw it away,
That creates p.R. Problems
for them.
But economically, it's great
If we just keep using
single-use products.
[ indistinct chatter ]
So, if we stop to pick up
everything on the way out there,
We'd never make it out
past the jetty,
So we have to leave
some things by the wayside.
I'm captain of the oceanographic
research vessel alguita
And founder of alguita
marine research and education.
I'm known for working well
off shore of the coastal ocean
In what are known
as the oceanic gyres.
In 1997, I decided
to take a shortcut
And cut across
this vast expanse,
Which was basically
a thousand miles in diameter.
And I couldn't come on deck
without seeing a single piece
Of plastic float by
within five minutes.
It's proliferated so fast,
within 20 years
From my time of discovering it
until today,
I feel I underestimated
the actual danger.
And the "aha" moment
was the first time
We threw that trawl
in the ocean and pulled it in.
It was full
of plastic fragments.
That's what blew my mind,
when we realized
No matter where you're gonna
throw that net and out here,
You're going to find that stuff.
So, we just
pulled in the trawl.
This is all plastic
that we caught
At the surface
of the ocean.
Wow. That's a lot.
You'll see
the nurdles,
Which are the preproduction
resin pellets
For majority of all of
our plastics we've ever owned.
It started out
as the nurdles.
Look at that separation
between the plastic layer.
Look how many different layers
there are of materials there.
See how the plastic
separating from that foil.
So, how easy do you think it is
for the recyclers to do that?
Oh, we love our sachets.
Just about anywhere
you look now,
You can find plastic
if you look,
Especially,
at the nano scale materials,
Which are now beginning to enter
into the web of life itself.
Ballent: When you realize
how widespread this issue is
And how small the particles are,
you realize that cleanup
Is really just a great way
to see how bad the problem is.
We cannot rely on it
as a solution.
Grate: There are solutions
that have been proven to work.
There are cities
working towards zero waste.
[ children laughing ]
My vision for the future is
all cities are going zero waste,
And that means
that all that we use,
All that they produce, can
either be composed or recycled,
And all cities have the capacity
to manage these composed
Of all of these recyclables.
Currently,
we still have residual waste.
These are products or packaging
That can neither be composed
nor recycled.
But the beauty of
a zero-waste program
Is that we are not hiding
these products.
If you are collecting resources
and not waste,
It's not expensive.
One example is san fernando city
in the philippines.
Without the zero-waste program,
San fernando would be spending
70 million pesos per year
Just to collect their waste
and dump it in a landfill.
With the zero-waste program.
They were able to reduce it
to 12 million.
That translates to about
58 million pesos savings
For one city alone.
There is only one solution
to manage garbage.
It's to implement
zero-waste money spend.
It's really a part
of the solution,
Economically
and for the environment.
We're proud of san fernando
with their 7% to 8%
Waste aversion.
But the reality is that you have
that remaining 22%
That san fernando cannot manage,
that no one can manage.
The zero-waste program allows us
to identify which products
Are beyond the capacity
of communities to manage.
Industries are going to have to
take this into account.
If their product
isn't able to be recycled,
Not not only
in the in the country
Where it's produced or designed,
But in the country
where it ends up,
Then they shouldn't be producing
that kind of product.
Man: Right now, we are having
a brand audit
In which we are trying
to identify
The brands which contribute
the most to plastic waste
Which is generated
at the household level.
We are trying to generate
enough baseline data
To enable the government
to take a stand
So that they can follow
guidelines for implementing epr
To fix extended
producer responsibility.
When we say "extended
producer responsibility,"
He try to transfer
the responsibility
Of handling discards of branded
products back to the producer.
For example, if you're buying
a packet of chips,
You had essentially buying
the chips and not packaging
Which comes along with it.
So, the manufacturer
should take the responsibility
For either collecting them back
Or should support the government
in treating them.
So, this is what we dream
by implementing
Extended producer
responsibility.
From what we see right here,
There are five main contributors
to the majority
Of the plastic waste generated.
Unilever, itc, nestl,
milman, and pepsico.
And we are getting
similar feedback
From different brands as their
collected all over the country
Where the same names are
coming up a the top brands.
Man: We know who they are.
He's been trying
to work with them.
They have to step up,
and they had to own the problem.
Hernandez: It cannot be forever
supporting the bottom line
Of this companies
that has got to stop now.
They need to be given the bill.
We've got to pass legislation,
And we've got to create
public opinion to reduce waste.
[ speaking foreign language ]
Simon: They have a role to play
if they want to adapt,
But if they don't adapt,
We should not expect
the coca colas or pepsi colas
Or unilevers of this world
to be there in 20 years.
To continue creating products
on the basis of petrochemicals
Is not embracing
the full potential
Of the opportunities
that we see elsewhere.
We're almost there
that you can create packaging
That has nothing to do
with plastics.
We're almost there.
If you can use less material,
For sure,
that's always number one.
But for everything else,
biodegradable
And bio-based plastic can be
a good solution in the future.
People always say, like,
"oh, molly, I thought of you.
I was at cvs, and I bought
A biodegradable shampoo bottle,"
and I'm like,
"I know exactly what you bought.
It's not biodegradable."
Just 'cause something's made
from corn or plants
Does not mean
it's biodegradable.
So, we see a lot of things
Like bio-p.E.T.
On the market, for instance.
And bio-p.E.T.
Is the same carbon chain
That's in conventional p.E.T.,
And you're not using
ancient fossil carbon
To make that material,
But it's
the exact same carbon chain.
It's not gonna be biodegradable.
So, those two things
are completely unrelated,
Biodegradable and bio-based.
But we really need to think
about both
What we're going up against,
the incumbent persistence,
Petrochemical-based plastics.
This is a massive
infrastructure challenge.
Morawski: If we really want
to completely transform
This industry,
we have to create that demand
And say to the producers,
"you must buy this much recycled
resin instead of virgin,
Then you're going to see demand.
Then you're going to see
investment in recycling.
Now, that being said,
it's not all about recycling.
I don't think we recycle
our way out of this problem.
We've got to reduce and reuse
our way out of this,
And that's definitely not what
Dow, and dupont,
and 3m, and target,
And procter & gamble,
and starbucks are thinking.
Simon: The question is,
are we going to see
A world of multinationals
in 20 or 30 years' time,
Or we want to see a world
where, actually,
You have a lot more
alternative delivery systems,
Business models that go
a lot more small scale,
And actually building
on the communities.
Priestland:
The world that I hope to see
Is one where your beauty-care
products or your drinks
Or whatever else
that you're buying
Is coming in reusable packaging,
And we have
more localized systems
So that we break free from these
huge, multinational companies
Who have massive supply chains
That force them to rely
on plastic packaging.
At least we can
turn off the tap, right?
That's the least
that we can do --
The very least that we can do.
People are thinking
that prevention is radical,
Something that comes
after recycling.
It's not it's supposed to be
the essential thing
To do first and foremost.
There has to be a policy.
That's the only way that you can
get massive-scale conversions
To single-use-plastic free.
[ machinery whirs down ]
Before we passed the plastic-bag
reduction law in california,
This would have been
full of plastic bags, too.
So, it's pretty awesome that
there aren't very many
'cause those plastic bags
are a nightmare.
They gummed up everything.
And it's a success story
that gives us some ideas
About how we might deal with
some of these other materials.
Timmermans:
What we did is we looked at
Which single-use-plastics items
Could be easily replaced
like straws,
Q-tips, plastic cutlery,
plastic plates, et cetera,
So we could ban those products.
And then you have products that
are not as easily replaceable.
There, you need
to help industry
To try and develop
other products
That could replace
these products.
And, also, what has been
very successful are programs
To recollect plastic bottles.
You get collection
of over 90%.
All these things combined
should be one strategy.
This is not a europe-centric
or western-centric issue.
In some african countries,
Governments are willing to be
more radical than europe
On single-use plastics.
Woman:
Rwanda is a role model.
Since the ban was introduced
10 years ago,
Countries around the world have
since also banned plastic bags.
Morawski:
The public is happy to hear
about these bans taking place.
And companies are really afraid.
They're suddenly realizing
this is really serious.
Without the legislation,
we have nothing.
Because then
you're asking corporations
To voluntarily
do the right thing.
They're not going to do that.
But if everybody is forced
to do it, they all have to pay,
They're going to come together,
And those costs that were
externalized in the past
And basically borne
by poor communities
Suffering with all this marine
litter or municipalities
Having to deal with expensive
recycling and disposal programs
Or large incinerators
that they have to keep feeding,
Those are externalized costs
That companies
are profiting from.
Now we're going to give them
back those costs and say,
"you know what?
It's your problem now.
You deal with it.
Are you still going
to do business
The same way
you do business now,
Or are you going to redesign
your product
So you're going to
reduce those costs
And it's actually going to be
more environmentally friendly?"
I believe we're at
a tipping point right now.
I've seen
more policy change globally
In the last 8 months
Than I've seen in 20 years
of my career
Because not only are governments
getting pissed off,
But companies are recognizing
They can't get away
with it anymore.
Carpenter:
So many parts of our economy,
So many places around the world
are dependent
On this relatively
small group of corporations
Who are making
a tremendous amount of money
Poisoning the rest of us.
And, so, figuring out
how to break out of that cycle.
That's the project
of our lifetime.
Bourque: Plastics are treated
as a product
That miraculously appears
from nowhere,
And it goes to nowhere.
That invisibility,
that magic nature of plastics
Is something that the oil
and gas industry has perpetuated
And promoted very effectively
for decades.
But what was once invisible
is becoming visible.
The plastic crisis doesn't start
When the plastics
enter the ocean.
It starts when the oil
and the gas leave the wellhead
And it keeps on being a problem
at every step along the way.
So, if you want
to stop plastics,
If you want to truly confront
the plastics crisis,
Fight to end
fossil-fuel subsidies.
Make companies accountable
for the lifecycle impacts
Of their products.
The moment that exxon,
the moment that shell,
The moment that chevron
and dow and dupont
Own the impacts
of these products,
The plastics crisis will be over
and not before then.
Now, it may be
a kind of a token idea,
But I think that circular
economy is possible.
Zero waste is possible.
Mafira:
It's not reasonable at all
That we continue to live
like this and expect to survive.
We're ruining the planet
that gives us life,
And we're ruining the oceans
that give us fish.
We're ruining the rivers
that give us clean water.
I don't think they can keep on
tricking people forever.