PLASTICS TREATED AS CHEMICALS

The Intercept news outlet tells us about a report on the huge subsidies being given to chemical companies to set up mostly bogus companies to chemically treat various kinds of plastics. The reason is easy to see. The primary goal of industry is to avoid regulation of their production by the government. By throwing the dust of chemical treatment into the eyes of environmentalists, they can promote the notion that recycling can work.

Also see the followup Intercept article: How the Plastics Industry is Fighting to Keep Polluting the World.

Both of the above articles unfortunately give short shrift to any effective solutions to the problems they report on in such detail. All they mention is banning and reducing usage, neither one of which includes much potential for effectiveness. But awareness is growing.