“The Fraud of Plastic Recycling”, a report by The Centre for Climate Integrity, recently revealed that, for decades, the petrochemical industry has been treating the plastic waste crisis as a public relations issue, instead of a technical or economic challenge. The report accused the industry of promoting plastic recycling as a way to ward off regulations and keep demand growing. Even as countries are negotiating a global treaty on plastic pollution, industry lobbyists are pushing for new solutions like chemical recycling without addressing the core issue – the disposability of single-use plastics.

The reality is that only 9 per cent of all plastic waste generated has been recycled, and our plastic addiction is causing irrevocable change to the environment. For instance, plastic rock complexes – or “plastistones” – have been found across several countries and are being recognised as a novel sedimentary rock by geologists.

Even more worrying is that microplastics and nanoplastics can now be found in our blood, and a study on mice showed that they can penetrate the blood-brain barrier. A recently published study saw a link between their presence in our major arteries and the increased risk of heart attack, stroke or death.