Worth noting the plastic used in the synthetic rubber in tyres is a major source of plastic pollution: www.reuters.com/sustainabili... (4/n)
Replies
"Twenty petrochemical companies generate more than half of all the world’s single-use plastics. They include major oil and gas companies such as ExxonMobil, the world’s leading producer of single-use plastic waste. thehill.com/opinion/ener... (5/n)
mar 9, 2024, 7:01 am • 17 11 • view
"Behind the scenes, however, they were admitting all along that such efforts were “virtually hopeless.” For more than 40 years, they knew plastic recycling is not technically or economically feasible at scale. More than 90% of all plastic has ended up in landfills, ecosystems, or incinerators. (6/n)
mar 9, 2024, 7:04 am • 12 3 • view
"Since the 1970s, these companies, their trade associations, and their front groups promoted recycling “solutions” using misleading advertising, inaccurate educational materials, performative investments, and commitments that they knew they were unlikely to meet. (7/n)
mar 9, 2024, 7:05 am • 15 4 • view
"Internal documents reveal that the industry knew by 1986, for example, that “recycling cannot be considered a permanent solid waste solution [to plastics], as it merely prolongs the time until an item is disposed of.” (8/n)
mar 9, 2024, 7:07 am • 14 11 • view
"In 1994, an Exxon employee warned staffers at the American Plastics Council that they did not “want paper floating around” saying they could not meet recycling goals, since the issue was “highly sensitive politically.” (9/n)
mar 9, 2024, 7:09 am • 5 4 • view
"Plastics are a product made from fossil fuels. As the world moves away from fossil fuels in a race to avert climate catastrophe, journalists have shined a light on how oil companies promote recycling, in part because plastics are their 'Plan B.'" (10/n)
mar 9, 2024, 7:11 am • 6 3 • view
These days, the CEO of ExxonMobil likes to gaslight the public and blame activists: "Frankly, society, and the activist—the dominant voice in this discussion—has tried to exclude the industry that has the most capacity and the highest potential for helping with some of the technologies." (11/n)
mar 9, 2024, 7:12 am • 5 1 • view
Well, these same companies knew about the problems with toxic fossil fuel pollution since the 1970s. That's both greenhouse gas and microplastic pollution. And they deliberately and knowingly lied to delay action. (12/12)
mar 9, 2024, 7:12 am • 7 3 • view
Same tactic as with climate change.
jan 10, 2025, 2:50 pm • 1 1 • view
Sounds like repeating with carbon removal schemes et al...we have to stop ceding them the inside track and subsidies immediately, not after some election.
mar 9, 2024, 12:27 pm • 2 1 • view
Apologies for asking this, but where would I quickly find that list of 20 petchem companies? The article links to many reports. I'm currently compiling a global inventory of steam cracking plants and polymerisation plants, and 20 companies sounds about right, but my data are incomplete on PET.
jan 10, 2025, 2:49 pm • 1 0 • view
There's a list of companies in this report: cdn.minderoo.org/content/uplo...
jan 11, 2025, 12:01 am • 1 0 • view
Many thanks!
jan 11, 2025, 7:43 am • 1 0 • view