Plastic Inc
Big Oil, Big Money and The Plan To Trash Our Future
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Plastic Inc
Narrated by:
Deborah McBride
Pre-order for $26.99
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Narrated by:
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Deborah McBride
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By:
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Beth Gardiner
About this listen
'Strips away the lies to show what's really happening in the world' - OLIVER BULLOUGH
'Totally compelling' - ELIZABETH KOLBERT
Plastic is everywhere in our daily lives. But the companies making it - oil and petrochemical giants like ExxonMobil and INEOS - are hiding in plain sight. Because for all the vivid coverage of where plastic ends up, there is remarkably little discussion of where it comes from. In a shocking investigative deep dive, packed with character-driven storytelling, award-winning journalist Beth Gardiner exposes the truth of the vast, rapacious industry flooding our world with plastic - and now preparing to make more than ever.
From the Gulf Coast of Texas to the narrow streets of Antwerp and the glitz and bling of Dubai, Gardiner gives us an up-close look at the plastic industry's relentless growth, its extraordinary profits, its toxic pollution, and its hidden role in exacerbating climate change. Today, the industry is pouring billions of dollars into plans to double, and eventually triple, the amount of plastic it churns out, even as so many of us -aghast at this material's out-of-control proliferation - try to use less. As Big Oil stares down a future of diminishing demand for fossil fuels, plastic has become its financial lifeline.
Plastic Inc is full of stunning revelations, including how Big Oil pushed plastic into our lives and then sold us myths about recycling to ease our worries; how companies funded litter campaigns to blame us for the waste they were creating; and how they've poured cash and political muscle into fighting bans on single-use plastics. Gardiner also uncovers the hidden health crisis caused by chemicals in the items we use every day, and scientists' growing fear that microplastics may pose even greater dangers.
Plastic Inc is an extraordinary exposé of an industry that will stop at nothing to feed its voracious hunger for profit.©2026 Beth Gardiner
Critic Reviews
In Plastic Inc., Beth Gardiner has written my favorite kind of non-fiction: a readable, scrupulous, and fascinating book that strips away lies and obfuscation to show what's really happening in the world. (Oliver Bullough)
Gripping and essential reading! A frightening insight into how Big Plastic rivals Big Food in becoming the new global threat to our health and our planet. (TIM SPECTOR)
A gripping narrative (GARDINER HARRIS)
Beth Gardiner offers a powerful account of how commercial interests have conspired to keep the world awash in waste. Plastic Inc. is deeply researched, sharply written, and totally compelling. (ELIZABETH KOLBERT)
It is impossible not to compare Beth Gardiner's Plastic Inc. to Rachel Carson's Silent Spring. This is a shocking and necessary book that unpacks the history, the science, the hazards, and the relentless marketing of the most pernicious and ubiquitous substance ever conceived-and sold-by modern industry. (John Vaillant, Baillie Gifford Prize-winning author of Fire Weather)
This is journalism at its finest. It's a breathtaking and revelatory expose about one of the world's most reckless industries -- and also a fascinating secret history of the modern world. After reading this urgent book, you'll never see things the same way again. (Christopher Leonard, New York Times bestselling author of Kochland and The Lords of Easy Money)
Beth Gardiner is an excellent and sensitive storyteller
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