The plastics conspiracy: who is to blame for the waste crisis?

The world is waking up to the danger posed by single-use plastics to the environment. But consumer pressure is not enough to reverse the decades of plastic waste that litter the globe and clog up the oceans. Stephen Buranyi tells Anushka Asthana how an anti-plastic revolution is under way but the plastics industry is in no mood for retreat. Plus: George Monbiot on why climate change is a crisis that requires a response of civil disobedience

Who is really to blame for the crisis in plastic waste across the globe? And is it too late to fix it? Stephen Buranyi explains how the rise of the plastics industry since the 1960s created a culture of disposable consumerism that has generated a global crisis of plastic waste. He describes how the industry in response poured money into anti-littering campaigns, but did not apply the same standards of waste control to itself.

Plus: the Guardian environment correspondent, Matthew Taylor, explains who is responsible for the “tsunami of plastic” coming our way and what may be our only hope to stop it.


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