>> The world is flooded with
plastic garbage.
>> In this state, none of this
is recyclable.
>> NARRATOR: Have efforts to
solve the plastics problem made
it worse?
>> Do you think the
industry used recycling to sell
more plastic?
>> Absolutely.
>> NARRATOR: FRONTLINE and NPR
investigate the battle over
plastics.
>> We have to manage the waste
right.
We have to fix this.
>> NARRATOR: And what's at
stake.
>> For the oil and gas industry
plastic is their lifeline.
This is the big war.
>> NARRATOR: Now, “Plastic
Wars”.
(water burbling)
>> LAURA SULLIVAN: In 2015, a
marine biologist came across a
sea turtle in distress.
>> Oh.
>> I don't want to pull it too
hard.
>> Yeah, I mean, it's bleeding
already.
Oh, poor baby.
I'm sorry.
(bleep) (bleep) Christ.
That is plastico.
Oh, man.
>> That's plastic.
>> Don't tell me it's a
freaking straw.
>> It's just freaking...
>> SULLIVAN: Her video of the
encounter quickly went viral.
>> This poor sea turtle.
>> SULLIVAN: It would attract
more than 35 million views.
>> ...became a rallying cry for
action.
>> SULLIVAN: And focused public
attention on a growing problem.
>> That turtle video certainly
did have an impact.
>> Plastic pollution: a
planetary crisis.
>> SULLIVAN: Plastics in the
oceans have been building up for
decades.
>> In an underwater paradise, a
plastic nightmare.
>> SULLIVAN: Recurring images of
dead whales...
>> 80 plastic bags found inside
the whale.
>> SULLIVAN: Bloated seabirds...
>> Oh.
>> SULLIVAN: ...and littered
waterways have fueled a global
anti-plastic movement.
>> Enemy number one-- the
plastic straw.
>> Many U.S. cities are taking
steps to ban plastic grocery
bags...
>> Save our Earth before it's
too late!
>> SULLIVAN: And yet, despite
the backlash, the industry that
makes plastic is expanding.
>> The start of construction on
that multibillion-dollar
plastics plant...
>> SULLIVAN: Plentiful supplies
of natural gas are driving down
the cost of making plastic.
The U.S. is now one of the
world's largest plastic
producers.
>> It's going to be the largest
plant of its kind in the world.
>> SULLIVAN: And industry is
investing tens of billions of
dollars in new plastic plants.
>> Construction will eventually
employ 6,000 people.
>> SULLIVAN: By 2050, it's
estimated that global production
of plastic will triple.
>> A plastic boom.
>> There's going to be more
plastic than ever on the face...
>> SULLIVAN: I wanted to
understand how we came to this
moment, how the plastic
industry has been able to thrive
all these years in the face of a
growing crisis, and opposition
that's now stronger than it's
ever been.
♪ ♪
♪ ♪
For decades, the national
response to the growing
plastic-waste problem has
focused on one solution:
recycling.
And few places have pursued
recycling more aggressively than
Oregon.
What we put in our recycling
bins ends up in sorting plants
like this one, outside of
Portland.
>> We're actually very full
right now.
>> SULLIVAN: This is, this is
all coming in fresh.
This is the first unload, right?
>> Yeah.
So that's what it looks like
when it comes in.
>> SULLIVAN: Vinod Singh is the
outreach manager at Far West
Recycling.
>> SULLIVAN: Every single piece
of this has to be sorted in some
way...
>> Yeah, you have to separate
paper and then the metals and
then the plastics.
>> SULLIVAN: There are a lot of
different kinds of plastics that
have to be sorted.
>> And what we're doing here is,
we're sorting it out into the
milk jugs, the natural HDPE, the
pigmented HDPE, P.E.T. water
bottles...
>> SULLIVAN: They're looking for
plastics.
>> Yeah-- so all the plastic
will come off before the line
ends.
>> SULLIVAN: Some items, like
soda bottles and milk jugs, are
easier to recycle, so there's
money to be made.
>> So, this is all plastic that
has a home.
>> SULLIVAN: But most other
types of plastic are technically
difficult and often costly to
recycle.
And that makes them nearly
impossible to sell.
So they keep piling up.
This is plastic that has no
home.
>> This is plastic that has no
home, so it's your clamshells,
Ziploc bags, film, a CD, a food,
like, a food wrapper.
>> SULLIVAN: In the business,
they're called mixed plastics.
>> Now, you're getting more
mixed plastics, like pouches,
and everything comes in a, in a
clamshell now.
>> SULLIVAN: So, if somebody
throws their Tide bottle into
their bin, that's a win.
>> Yeah.
>> SULLIVAN: But what you're
saying is you're seeing more and
more of this stuff.
>> Packaging is evolving.
>> SULLIVAN: Most mixed plastics
end up in a place like this.
>> What you're seeing happening
right now is, that's a
full-size, that's a, probably a
53-foot trailer.
>> SULLIVAN: In Medford, Oregon,
Rogue Disposal's landfill takes
about a hundred loads of trash a
day.
And more and more of it is
plastic.
>> Plastic films, plastic bags,
the plastic wrapping that comes
around a lot of packaged goods--
that all goes into the garbage.
It's margarine tubs, clamshells,
the deli containers.
Until there is a viable option
for recycling those things, we
should be putting it in a
landfill.
>> SULLIVAN: But that's not what
we've been told for decades, as
the things we buy have been
increasingly packaged in
plastic.
Are you David?
I'm Laura Sullivan.
>> Very nice to meet you.
>> SULLIVAN: Nice to meet you,
too.
>> Welcome to Portland.
>> SULLIVAN: David Allaway is a
senior policy analyst with the
Oregon Department of
Environmental Quality.
So much of all this stuff in
the grocery store is plastic
now.
>> It's really inexpensive.
>> SULLIVAN: It's an easy way to
package it.
>> It is, and it performs, it
performs very well.
It has really good engineering
qualities, it protects food very
well.
>> SULLIVAN: This is my basic
question, because it seems like
everybody is buying lettuce in a
box now.
Is this recyclable?
>> In this state, none of this
is, none of this is recyclable.
>> SULLIVAN: Okay, what about
all these?
This is everywhere in every
supermarket.
>> In Oregon, again, there are
no curbside programs that would
accept any of these tubs.
>> SULLIVAN: Okay, so, this is
classic, when, a lot of
Americans do this, like what
you're doing right now.
>> Yep, that's right.
>> SULLIVAN: They flip it over.
What are we looking at?
>> At the bottom of all these
plastic containers is this
little chasing arrow, the little
recycling symbol, with a number.
And the number, there's some
words, it says, "1 P.E.T.E."
This package here is technically
recyclable.
You could recycle this in a lab.
>> SULLIVAN: Okay.
>> But it's not economical to
recycle it, given the current
economics of recycling.
>> SULLIVAN: But if it's not
happening in Oregon, it makes me
wonder what's going on in the
rest of the country.
>> Yeah, I would, I would say
that this package is rarely
recycled in most parts in the
country.
>> SULLIVAN: Yeah.
>> Can I give you another
example here?
>> SULLIVAN: Yes, please.
>> So, let's take a look at
these blueberries.
>> SULLIVAN: Okay.
>> This is classic.
And if you turn this over, you
see the chasing arrows.
On the bottom, it says, "100%
recyclable."
There is no program in Oregon
that wants this in the curbside
mix.
But more than half of all people
that live in the Portland area
believe this belongs in the
curbside container.
>> SULLIVAN : Well, it says it's
recyclable.
>> It says it's recyclable.
It has the recycling logo.
It's very confusing to a lot of
people.
>> SULLIVAN: This confusion
about what can and can't be
recycled, and where plastic
ultimately ends up, is no
accident.
Over the past year, we've been
investigating the plastic crisis
and found that many of the
problems we face today were set
in motion decades ago by the
very companies who make plastic
in the first place.
♪ ♪
One of those companies is
DuPont, and on the grounds of
the first DuPont family home, I
found the Hagley Library.
(old movie score playing)
It holds one of the world's
largest collections of
industrial history.
>> This is an American city, a
real community of homes and
homemakers like thousands of
others across the nation.
We call it Plasticstown, U.S.A.
>> SULLIVAN: I'd come to see
what its archive could tell me
about the evolution of the
plastic problem.
>> The table is set with
polyethylene products, too.
>> SULLIVAN: America's postwar
boom presented endless
opportunities for this new
durable, lightweight material.
>> Modern-day miracles that were
made with the help of
petrochemicals.
>> SULLIVAN: From packaging to
clothing to home furnishings...
>> Very durable.
>> SULLIVAN: Plastic's
wide-ranging applications...
>> Glassine, polyethylene,
Mylar...
>> SULLIVAN: ...promised a new
world through chemistry.
>> Step into the world of
manmade materials that take up
where nature left off.
>> The thing that made them
unique was the ability to do
more with just a little bit of
material, to make things that we
used lighter and more efficient.
So, plastic came to be used in
many applications because it
performed better.
>> That was not a trick.
>> It did a good job of doing
what it was asked to do.
It made life more efficient and
easier.
>> (chanting): Save our Earth!
>> SULLIVAN: But by 1970, the
plastic industry would have to
confront the turbulent times of
America's environmental
awakening.
>> One in every ten Americans
took part in rallies...
>> SULLIVAN: Earth Day was one
of the largest mass protests in
U.S. history.
>> Oh, Earth Day was profound in
terms of people waking up to the
fact that we live on a finite
planet.
And there was a lot of concern
about the trend that was
happening towards the more
throwaway, disposable lifestyle.
(dramatic music playing)
>> SULLIVAN: In response, many
companies, including plastic
makers, and even some
environmentalists, got behind an
iconic ad campaign that focused
attention on the public's role.
>> And I remember being a kid
and watching those ads, the
most famous one with the crying
Indian.
>> Some people have a deep,
abiding respect for the natural
beauty that was once this
country.
>> He was actually Italian,
dressed up like an Indian, but
the fake crying Indian, the most
famous one, ends with this very
dramatic sentence where they
say...
>> People start pollution.
People can stop it.
>> People all around the country
bought that line and thought it
was our responsibility to take
care of litter.
>> Americans discard more trash
than any other country in the
world.
>> SULLIVAN: While the efforts
to change consumer behavior
helped clean up the more visible
litter problem, they did little
to address the root cause...
>> What makes our lives
convenient is burying us.
>> SULLIVAN: The unchecked
growth in household waste.
>> A barge filled with garbage
is causing quite an
international stink.
>> Loaded with more than 3,000
tons of waste from New York's
Long Island...
>> SULLIVAN: By 1987, a
wandering barge called the Mobro
became an emblem of the growing
crisis.
>> Greenpeace went and climbed
aboard it and took a huge
banner that we put on it.
We said, "Next time, try
recycling."
It really became a metaphor of,
"We are bumping up against
limits here.
We cannot keep just continuing
this mindless consumerism,
mindless consumption, and dump
it somewhere else."
>> American has a garbage
problem too long ignored...
>> SULLIVAN: At Hagley, we found
a collection of internal plastic
industry documents...
Thank you.
(voiceover): ...about this
period of time, when the
industry was in the crosshairs
of the environmental movement,
and plastics were under attack.
As we continued reporting, we
found even more internal
documents and court filings, and
spoke with over a dozen industry
insiders, including three top
executives who represented the
big plastic producers and agreed
to talk publicly for the first
time.
Back then, one of the vice
presidents at the Society of the
Plastics Industry was Lew
Freeman.
He now heads a local
environmental coalition, but he
remembers a pivotal board
meeting in the late '80s, when
the industry was worried about
its public image.
>> The vice president of the
DuPont Company pulled me aside
and said, "You, you guys better
get up to Wilmington.
There's dissatisfaction about
what's going on with the
solid-waste issue."
We took a trek up to Wilmington,
and this one DuPont executive,
he said, "I think if we had five
million dollars"-- which seemed
like a lot of money then.
>> SULLIVAN: Five million?
>> "If we had five million
dollars, we could, we could, we
could solve this problem."
>> SULLIVAN: They created the
Council for Solid Waste
Solutions, drawn from their
ranks of big oil and
petrochemical companies that
made plastic, like Amoco,
Chevron, Dow, and Exxon.
The group had a plan and turned
to a veteran of the industry,
Ron Liesemer, to execute it.
>> They wanted to know, was I
interested in being the guy who
actually made recycling happen
across the U.S.?
>> SULLIVAN: I mean, you got
handed this task...
>> Yeah.
>> SULLIVAN: ...to recycle
plastic in the United States.
>> In the United States.
Literally me.
I had no staff.
But I had millions of dollars to
do what I felt was necessary.
>> In a highly controversial
action, one county in New York
State has voted to ban all
packaging made of two kinds of
plastic.
>> SULLIVAN: It was a critical
moment.
A growing backlash was
threatening the future of
plastic.
>> In what may be part of a
national trend, the City Council
of Saint Paul, Minnesota, voted
to outlaw the use of polystyrene
plastics.
>> SULLIVAN: Liesemer was sent
to Minnesota on an urgent
mission.
Brand-name companies that used
plastic were facing bans on
their products.
>> There was an attitude that if
your product was not recycled,
then it should not be in the
marketplace.
So, it was up to us in the
plastics industry to solve this
problem so that they could
continue to package their
products in plastic.
>> SULLIVAN: And Liesemer found
a solution.
To appease government officials,
the industry funded a local
recycling pilot project.
>> The industry attitude was,
"We'll set this up and get it
going, but if the public wants
it, they are going to have to
pay for it."
>> SULLIVAN: The plastic bans
were averted.
Do you think that they took a
lesson away from how to fight
the bans?
>> Oh, yes.
It was, "We need to be doing
things."
>> SULLIVAN: Like what?
>> Don't wait until legislation
appears.
>> SULLIVAN: You're saying
pre-empt it.
>> Yes, do it first.
And we did.
>> SULLIVAN: Did you feel like
they cared more about selling
plastic than they did about
making recycling work?
>> Making recycling work was a
way to keep their products in
the marketplace.
>> SULLIVAN: It was a way to
sell plastic.
>> Yes.
It's a win-win situation.
You get recycling going, that
has its benefits, and it
improves the image of the
material.
>> SULLIVAN: The industry found
another way to promote plastic
using recycling.
Responding to pressure from
states and environmentalists to
better identify the many types
of plastic, it created a code to
tell them apart.
That code was a numbering system
put inside the well-known symbol
for recycling, the chasing
arrows.
The problem, recyclers said, is
that it left the impression that
all those kinds of plastics were
actually being recycled.
Coy Smith ran recycling centers
in Southern California in the
1980s and early '90s.
All right, there you are.
>> During that time, the
plastics industry, they went
around to states, and they
convinced those states to pass
laws, and they did this very
quietly.
They passed laws that required
that symbol with the number on
it be put on plastic containers
sold in that state.
I mean, for most states, they
did it in, recyclers didn't even
know it happened.
And the next thing you know, all
the plastic containers have
these symbols on them.
>> SULLIVAN: Is this a good
thing or a bad thing?
>> It's a bad thing.
>> SULLIVAN: Why?
>> Because the average person
saw the symbol, they know the
symbol, and said, "Well, it's
recyclable, right?"
>> SULLIVAN: "It's got three
arrows."
>> Well, like, all of a sudden,
our own customers, they would
bring it in and not only say it
has the triangle, but it would,
they would flat-out say, "It
says it's recyclable right on
it."
And I'd be, like, "I can tell
you I can't give this away.
There's no one that would even
take it if I paid for them to
take it."
That's how unrecyclable it was.
>> SULLIVAN: Stuck with plastics
they couldn't sell, Smith and
other recyclers met with
representatives from the plastic
industry.
Do you see the one...
>> Yeah, there's my name, right
there.
>> SULLIVAN: And came up with a
report identifying key problems
with the numbering code.
>> Some firms are using it as a
green marketing tool.
"The code is being misused."
>> SULLIVAN: The plastic
industry that you were working
with agreed to these and signed
onto this report.
>> They did.
>> SULLIVAN: So they knew that
these problems existed.
>> They knew these problems
existed, absolutely.
>> SULLIVAN: Recyclers and the
plastic makers couldn't agree on
how to change the code.
Industry would only switch to a
triangle, which recyclers said
was too similar to the chasing
arrows.
Industry wouldn't even consider,
say, no triangle, or a circle,
or, I mean...
>> They didn't want to go
anywhere near no triangle.
We said, "Go to a square, go to
some other symbol, just not the
triangle," and they, they said,
"No."
Coming up with ways to have
their product perceived as
more recyclable and more
environmental makes their
product look better.
They want to sell more plastic
containers.
>> SULLIVAN: Recyclers also
appealed to government
regulators, but they sided with
industry.
They said that the chasing
arrows symbol was okay, as long
as it was small and on the
bottom of packaging.
What if it's got a chasing arrow
sign on it, and you think that
means it's getting recycled?
>> Uh, that, that was one of the
comments early, that it implied
that those products were being
recycled.
That wasn't the intent.
>> SULLIVAN: Were they?
Were they misleading the public?
>> I don't think so, because
when I looked at them, at the
arrows, I thought, "This is a
way to identify the products so
that recycling, the early stages
of recycling can take place."
>> SULLIVAN: But even as
Liesemer and his colleagues were
publicly promoting recycling,
privately, the industry had long
expressed doubt it was ever
going to happen on a broad
scale.
One internal document from the
Society of the Plastics Industry
cautioned, "The techniques of
cleaning and separating the
mixed plastics... has not been
developed for large-scale
economic application."
Another said, "There are no
effective market mechanisms for
mixed plastic."
And this document was candid:
"There is serious doubt"
widespread plastic recycling
"can ever be made viable on an
economic basis."
How could they go into all of
these communities and tell
people, "You just have to
recycle," when they knew there
were so many problems and so
many hurdles?
>> Some were very skeptical but
felt they had to do it.
I think others were, were more
hopeful.
There was never an enthusiastic
belief that recycling was
ultimately going to work in a
significant way.
>> SULLIVAN: Freeman's boss at
the time, Larry Thomas, the head
of the Society of the Plastics
Industry, was blunt about it.
>> I was the front man for the
plastics industry.
No getting around it.
>> SULLIVAN: Thomas wouldn't sit
down for an on-camera interview,
but agreed to talk on the phone.
>> If the public thinks the
recycling is working, then
they're not going to be as
concerned about the environment.
I think they knew that the
infrastructure wasn't there to
really have recycling amount to
a whole lot.
>> SULLIVAN: Thomas wrote a
confidential memo in 1989 about
the precarious position the
industry was in.
"The image of plastics among
consumers is deteriorating at an
alarmingly fast pace," it says.
"We're approaching a 'point of
no return.'
Business is being lost.
Analysts are beginning to take
notice.
We must immediately undertake a
major program of unprecedented
proportions to reverse this
fast-moving tidal wave of
growing negative public
perception."
So the big plastic producers
came up with a
multimillion-dollar solution...
>> When you look at plastic...
>> SULLIVAN: Advertising.
>> ...helps things stay fresh
and safe and light.
>> It spent most of its money,
millions and millions of
dollars, on advertising...
>> Plastic also saves energy.
>> To tout the virtues of
plastics as a way of heading off
the criticism the industry was
experiencing.
>> When we started that
advertising program, I think the
image of plastics was in the
mid-30s-- you know, 30, 35%
favorability.
>> SULLIVAN: That's pretty low.
>> If you're in politics, you're
in deep trouble with a 35%
rating.
>> Presenting the possibilities
of plastics.
>> When they were running the
advertising on television,
they were not about how plastics
can be recycled, but all the
wonderful things that plastics
bring to us.
>> Plastics make it possible.
>> The fact that you now don't
have to worry about dropping a
shampoo bottle that was made out
of glass on the bathroom floor
because it's plastic.
And there's nothing wrong in an
industry promoting those kind of
things, but that's not
addressing the problem that
people are criticizing you
about.
>> SULLIVAN: And it worked?
>> And it worked.
>> SULLIVAN: (chuckles)
'Cause you went from 30%
favorability...
>> From, let's say mid-30s to
mid-60s.
>> SULLIVAN: Favorability.
>> Mm-hmm.
(commercial music playing)
>> Glass?
That's the past.
ThermaSet is the future.
>> SULLIVAN: Over the next
several decades...
>> What once was glass will soon
be plastic.
>> SULLIVAN: Plastic became the
unrivaled material of choice for
consumers.
>> Busy lifestyles and a growing
urban population mean an
increase in demand for food that
is fresh...
>> SULLIVAN: Plastic sales
exploded.
>> Convenient...
>> SULLIVAN: From 1990 to 2010,
production more than doubled.
>> And fast.
Flexible packaging has become
part of our daily lives.
>> SULLIVAN: And with all that
new plastic came mountains of
plastic waste.
>> Here we are at our GDB South
Brunswick facility.
>> SULLIVAN: South, okay.
In New Jersey, I met a man who
built a $180 million recycling
business off of that waste.
>> Use and discard, and then
this is where it all ends up.
>> SULLIVAN: Sunil Bagaria is
national chairman of the
plastics division for ISRI, the
Institute for Scrap Recycling
Industries.
His company buys throwaway
plastic from some of the
largest big-box stores in
the U.S.
Oh, my God, what is this?
>> This is just hangers, one
type of plastic.
>> SULLIVAN (gasps): Why are
these all here?
>> Well, you would imagine that
when you, you know, you take a
garment off the rack and take
it to the checkout counter...
>> SULLIVAN: Yes.
>> Then this should go back.
>> SULLIVAN: That they would
just reuse it.
>> Yeah, but they said, "Oh, you
know what, we'll just buy new
hangers.
In the meantime, let me just
recycle this."
>> SULLIVAN: Oh, boy.
This hanger gets used one time.
>> One time.
>> SULLIVAN: Starting in the
late '90s, Bagaria and other
recycling brokers had a one-word
answer to the growing
plastic-waste problem: China.
>> I mean, China did a big one
for the recycling industry, I
must say.
>> SULLIVAN: Yeah.
>> You know, because, as long as
it remotely resembled plastic,
they wanted it.
>> SULLIVAN: They would take it.
>> Yeah-- polystyrene, P.E.T.,
PVC, polypropylene.
Because that's how big a demand
of manufacturing was there in
China.
They wanted raw material.
"Give me raw material," that's
all they wanted.
>> SULLIVAN: How long did that
go on for?
>> Almost 20 years.
But later, we surely realized
that there was always another
aspect of what was going on in
China.
>> SULLIVAN: Which was what?
>> They would just take, like,
the low-hanging fruits.
>> SULLIVAN: The good stuff.
>> Good stuff, easy to do.
>> SULLIVAN: Yeah.
>> And the remaining plastic
waste will then be disposed of.
>> SULLIVAN: Eventually, the
reality of what was happening in
China became clear.
>> These Chinese children spend
most of their waking hours
between plumes of smoke and
mountains of plastic.
>> SULLIVAN: And in 2018, China
stopped taking imported plastic
waste.
>> Now the country is trying to
clean up its image.
>> Because we thought that it
was getting recycled gave us
the freedom-- "Okay, no problem,
let's, let me continue to use
it.
It is ultimately getting
recycled.
What is the, what is the
problem?"
We never asked the question,
"Are they doing it the, the
right way?
Are we damaging the environment
more in the name of recycling?"
♪ ♪
>> SULLIVAN: When the recycling
market in China went away,
Bagaria and other brokers
scrambled to find a new home for
their plastic.
And countries like Indonesia saw
a business opportunity.
Last fall, I met up with Bagaria
there.
He was checking out a recycling
company that he sells his
plastic to.
>> This is his factory.
>> SULLIVAN: This is your
factory.
>> Yeah.
>> SULLIVAN: Bagaria had come to
make sure his plastic was
actually being recycled and
turned into tiny pellets that
are used to make new plastic
products.
>> This is your pellets.
>> SULLIVAN: Ah, there they are.
>> This is the holding tank.
>> SULLIVAN: Hot pellets.
How much responsibility do you
feel like you have over what's
happening here?
>> Oh, we, we are the shipper of
the scrap.
It all originates with us.
We could ship scrap and hope
that it is being recycled in the
way it should be.
Or the other way is, come here,
see how serious he is about
doing it the right way.
♪ ♪
>> SULLIVAN: But there are
growing concerns here that a lot
of plastic waste is not being
handled the right way, and
Indonesian officials are trying
to prevent what happened in
China from happening here.
Is this one of the big
priorities here?
>> Yeah.
(speaking local language)
>> SULLIVAN: So, contaminated
plastic trash is as big a
problem for you guys as
narcotics and drugs coming into
the country?
>> Yeah, yeah, yeah.
>> SULLIVAN: Wow.
Last year, customs found that
half the containers of plastic
waste they inspected...
>> Sir, sir, can you explain
little bit?
>> SULLIVAN: ...were
contaminated with trash and
plastic that can't be recycled.
♪ ♪
We wanted to see for ourselves
what was happening to the
plastic coming here.
Oh, it's here, right there?
>> Yeah.
>> SULLIVAN: That opening?
One recycling company here
caught our attention...
Yeah, PT New Harvestindo.
(voiceover): Based on Indonesian
customs documents we'd obtained.
191 containers being held right
now.
Let's just go knock and see if
maybe someone will talk to us.
(voiceover): With the help of an
Indonesian journalist, we tried
to speak to someone at New
Harvestindo.
But we were told there was no
one available.
>> We need to confirm...
(speaking local language)
Is the data that we have is
correct or not?
>> SULLIVAN: Can we come in and
look?
(journalist speaking local
language)
(guard responds)
>> SULLIVAN: Looks like a lot of
shipping containers.
>> Yeah.
>> SULLIVAN: I think we're in
the right place.
>> Yeah.
>> SULLIVAN: The customs
document we had said the company
was getting plastic from the
U.S.
With no one from New Harvestindo
willing to speak to us, we still
wanted to know what they were
doing with all those bales of
plastic waste and whether it
was all being recycled.
We'd heard about an
environmental activist who's
been tracking what happens to
the plastic coming into
Indonesia.
Hi.
I met up with Yuyun Ismawati in
a small rural community nearby.
This place, it's huge.
>> Yeah.
It's huge and very wide.
You can see from that corner to
the end of that valley over
there.
>> SULLIVAN: What's it like to
look at a field this size and
see it covered in plastic trash?
>> I can show you the pictures.
>> SULLIVAN: Oh, really, you
took pictures?
>> Yes.
>> SULLIVAN: Yeah, I'd love to
see that, yeah.
We took a seat by the side of
the road, and she showed me
pictures she'd collected of
plastic that locals said had
been dumped here.
>> The sacks are from a plastic
company.
When I came here in June, I
asked them, where did they get
this from?
And then they said it's from
Harvest, they call it.
>> SULLIVAN: Harvest.
(voiceover): Waste pickers would
look for plastics of value, and
the rest would be burned.
>> So, this is how it looked
like when they burn it.
>> SULLIVAN: So it's like a big,
sort of a big fire on this pit.
>> Yeah, yeah.
People with respiratory problem,
they really get affected.
And some children got
hospitalized.
(horn honks)
>> SULLIVAN: After the community
complained to the government
about the burning, the dumping
stopped here.
I mean, how, how big a problem
do you think these kinds of
dumping grounds are in
Indonesia?
>> Big.
They are everywhere around this
area.
Here, the recycling system that
we have at the moment is not
really recycling, because some
part of it exported, being
exported all over the world, to
be "recycled."
>> SULLIVAN: Yeah.
>> But you never know whether
it's really recycled, being
recycled overseas or not.
There is no proof.
>> SULLIVAN: We reached out to
the two recycling companies
known locally as Harvest.
New Harvestindo still wouldn't
respond to us, and the other
company denied it was behind the
dumping.
But later that night, on a back
street, I met up with a New
Harvestindo worker who agreed to
talk to me about what the
company does with its plastic
waste.
Hi.
>> Hi...
>> SULLIVAN: Thank you so
much for coming to meet me.
(voiceover): As long as we
didn't disclose his identity.
When you get a bale of plastic,
how much of that bale is plastic
that the company wants, and how
much of it is stuff that is just
plastic that you're not going to
do anything with?
>> (speaking local language):
>> SULLIVAN: What do you do with
the rest of it?
>> SULLIVAN: How long has that
been going on for?
♪ ♪
>> SULLIVAN: He told me he could
take me to a place where the
company had recently been
dumping plastic.
After a 30-minute drive, we
reached a quiet neighborhood
with an area hidden from the
road.
The smell of burnt plastic was
in the air.
And all around, there were sacks
of plastic and big piles, too.
This is from Purchase, New York.
This is totally American.
This is from California.
This is a pile of U.S.
recycling.
(voiceover): New Harvestindo
eventually got back to us and
denied it was responsible for
doing anything that damaged the
environment.
It said in an email that it had
a comprehensive system to handle
plastic waste, and it follows
all Indonesian laws and
regulations.
The company has not been charged
with any wrongdoing related to
dumping.
>> In last 20 years, we've seen
more environmental degradations
and environmental problems in
Indonesia because we are
struggling to, to clean up the
modern debris and modern litter
in Indonesia.
The additional burden of waste
from overseas, I don't know how
we are going to handle it.
>> SULLIVAN: You're saying
you've got plenty as it is.
>> Yes, because we, we are
struggling to handle our own
waste.
>> SULLIVAN: A lot of that waste
is ending up in the ocean.
One study estimates that 60% of
ocean plastic comes from Asia.
What do you think Americans need
to know?
>> Americans need to know that
your waste ended up here.
And the consumption and
lifestyle that you have, I think
it's, you have to rethink,
because we have to reduce the
amount of plastics that we, that
we produce at the moment.
>> Save our Earth before it's
too late!
>> SULLIVAN: That message is
reinvigorating a backlash
against plastic, the likes of
which the industry hasn't seen
for decades.
>> I can talk loud.
>> SULLIVAN: It's facing
opposition to the construction
of new plants.
>> Everybody up here said they
don't want the plant.
There shouldn't be any more talk
about it.
>> As of today, plastic bags are
banned in Jersey City.
>> SULLIVAN: And plastic bans
are spreading across the
country.
>> This is our moment,
California.
Let's get these bills passed.
Let's do right by our future.
>> SULLIVAN: A major showdown is
shaping up in California.
The legislature wants to impose
new fees on plastic makers
and restrict single-use
plastics.
>> This is a big moment.
>> SULLIVAN: This is big moment.
>> Yeah, so, if the California
market changes, we know it's
going to put pressure on kind
of, the kind of products that
are out there.
♪ ♪
>> SULLIVAN: Amid the backlash,
I headed to the Texas Gulf
Coast, where oil and gas
companies are under pressure
from climate change and
increasingly turning to
plastics, now their biggest
growth market.
We reached out to more than a
dozen major plastic makers.
The only one that would sit down
with us was Chevron Phillips.
Jim Becker is the vice president
of sustainability.
You've seen California, the
legislation...
>> Yeah, yeah.
>> SULLIVAN: Some bans across
the country, and a lot of
targets on single-use plastic.
>> Uh-huh, yeah, our view is,
you have to be very careful
with that, 'cause sometimes the
substitute products can have a
bigger environmental impact
than the thing you are banning.
>> SULLIVAN: Right.
>> So, we don't think banning
these products is necessarily
the, the right way to go.
>> SULLIVAN: What does Chevron
Phillips want to see happen?
>> We support, actually, the
A.C.C. goals-- American
Chemistry Council.
>> SULLIVAN: Yeah.
>> Goals of getting plastic
waste out of landfills by, I
think, the date is 2040.
>> SULLIVAN: Chevron Phillips
would like to see all of that
plastic recycled back to make
new plastic things?
>> Yeah.
>> SULLIVAN: How, how do you get
it to a place where 100% of
this plastic getting recycled?
How do you get there?
>> Much more education needs to
happen...
>> SULLIVAN: Yeah.
>> ...on how to recycle.
You also have to really build up
the infrastructure for
collection.
We're going to have to invest in
innovation, because some of
these technologies still need to
be further developed.
>> SULLIVAN: If the oil industry
is able to get 100% of, of the
material recycled...
>> Yeah.
>> SULLIVAN: Doesn't that
affect the bottom line?
>> Yes, it would, it
would, but the alternative is,
having plastic waste in the
environment.
We don't want that.
>> SULLIVAN: You think that
the company feels so strongly
that it is willing to make less
money?
>> I think that's true.
I guess i think of it more as
an investment in managing
plastic waste.
♪ ♪
>> SULLIVAN: Once again, the
industry is pushing recycling.
Today, its main lobbying group
is the American Chemistry
Council, and until recently, its
vice president of plastics was
Steve Russell.
You fundamentally think that in
the United States, recycling
could ramp up to a capacity to
handle the vast majority of
plastic that's being produced?
>> So, I understand that there's
a lot of skepticism around that,
because the systems today have
not kept pace.
Our system is woefully
inadequate, and it needs
dramatic investment.
It needs improvement.
But the proof here is the
dramatic amount of investment
that's happening right now.
Our member companies, SABIC and
Shell and LyondellBasell, all of
whom have made major
announcements in traditional and
advanced recycling to begin to
intervene in that space in order
to bring their scale, their
technical know-how, and their
capacity to start providing
products that are based on
waste...
>> SULLIVAN: But you're talking
about a couple of companies.
There's also an entire industry
that's going to triple
production by 2050.
>> Mm-hmm.
>> SULLIVAN: How are those two
things going to meet anywhere
in the middle?
>> It's not going to happen this
month or by the end of the year,
but we're moving now.
Old types of recycling need to
be modernized, and new types of
recycling need to be brought on
board.
The good news is they're coming.
♪ ♪
>> SULLIVAN: Back in Oregon, I
found one of these new
technologies.
In South Portland, the plastic
industry was showcasing a
demonstration project.
>> Has everybody got their gear?
>> SULLIVAN: And on the day I
stopped by, local lawmakers had
been invited in to hear about
the benefits of a new sorting
machine that industry says will
make recycling plastic more
economical.
>> If you want to step up, up
above, you can see the machine
in action.
>> SULLIVAN: One of the sponsors
was the American Chemistry
Council.
>> The idea behind that
particular facility is if, if we
improve the way that, that
recyclables move down the
conveyor belt, right, so they
get separated, we're going to
create better, cleaner streams
of like materials.
When we do that, we end up with
bales that are more easy to sell
and that are more easy for
consumer-goods companies to
incorporate into their
packaging.
>> SULLIVAN: But as we continued
our reporting in Oregon, we
heard about a surprisingly
similar effort that took place
more than 25 years ago, at a
recycling company 50 miles away
called Garten Services.
>> We're going into the office.
I've got a couple of newspaper
articles I want to show you from
the past.
>> SULLIVAN: The plastic
industry had brought a
demonstration project here in
1994.
>> The Garten Foundation of
Salem unveiled a new sorting
machine that may change the way
we recycle forever.
>> This million-dollar plastic
sorting system in Salem is the
first of its kind in the world.
>> So here, we've collected some
old newspaper articles from
1994.
>> SULLIVAN: Will Posegate is
the chief operating officer of
Garten.
>> I mean, it says, "Sorts out
the problem."
>> SULLIVAN: A sorting...
>> A sorting machine, that's
right.
>> SULLIVAN: You got this
from...
>> From the Plastics Council.
>> SULLIVAN: The Plastics...
>> They wanted us to sort
plastics, when people thought
plastics might be starting to be
a problem.
>> Today, the American Plastics
Council unveiled the machine.
>> They say residents will put
all their plastic containers in
one bag.
>> It just keeps getting better,
doesn't it?
>> SULLIVAN: What, what happened
to it?
>> Years later, we, it, we shut
it down, because there was no
way to make money at it.
And we sold that $1.5 million
machine for scrap.
>> SULLIVAN: You sold the
machine for scrap.
>> For scrap, that's right.
It didn't make any sense.
And I'm afraid that that same
thing is happening right now.
This is the plastic that nobody
wants.
The whole idea about, "Oh, just
sort better, it'll be great.
Let's make more single-use
plastics"-- don't buy into that.
Not a good idea for the
environment, not a good idea
for the Earth, not a good idea
for your wallet.
>> SULLIVAN: You can't sort your
way out of this.
>> No, no, period.
>> SULLIVAN: It all made me
wonder whether the plastic
industry is just recycling old
ideas.
>> They said I couldn't dream.
Called me a piece of trash and
swore that's all I'd ever be.
>> SULLIVAN: Like in the '90s,
the industry has been spending
money on ads...
>> And now I'm what I've always
wanted to be.
>> SULLIVAN: ...encouraging
consumers to recycle.
>> Remember, a lot of the
plastic packaging that you have
in your kitchen is recyclable.
>> Smoke jumping is the pinnacle
of wildland firefighting.
>> SULLIVAN: And touting the
virtues of plastic.
>> We're covered in
plastic-based gear from head to
toe.
(commercial music playing)
(commercial music playing)
>> This is the world we see.
>> Let's be the ones...
>> That came together to change
the world.
>> SULLIVAN: What do you think?
>> Déjà vu all over again.
>> SULLIVAN: Why do you say
that?
Tell me about that.
>> This is the same kind of
thinking that ran in the, in
the '90s.
>> SULLIVAN: What do you think
the messaging is here?
>> It's showing the people
picking up the litter.
That kind of implies that
that's where the responsibility
lay.
I think the chemical industry,
and the plastics industry
specifically, need to take very
seriously this reaction that's
going on.
I don't think this kind of
advertising is, is helpful to
them at all.
>> Lately, there's been a lot of
talk about how plastics impact
our lives, for better or worse.
>> SULLIVAN: The reality is, for
all the ads and promises over
the years, it's estimated that
no more than ten percent of
plastic has ever been recycled.
And the guy industry tapped
decades ago to get recycling
going isn't surprised.
I showed Ron Liesemer industry
reports we found dating as far
back as the 1970s.
And this one talks about the
cost of separating plastics from
other trash, there're various
types of plastics, and that the
cost of new plastic is so low
that sorting and reprocessing
used plastic can't be justified
economically.
And this was in 1973.
Have we made any progress?
>> I would say that their
conclusions in 1973, you said?
Are still true.
The economics that are described
there are, still prevail today
and likely will prevail
tomorrow.
>> SULLIVAN: It's hard
to have faith in the plastics
industry, when it got out of its
crisis in the '90s by telling
Americans to recycle, even
though they knew it was not
economically viable.
The crisis passed.
Now here we are again in a
crisis.
Plastics are once again on the,
the low end of the public's
opinion, and now the industry
is telling the public again to
recycle.
>> The industry is not telling
the public just to recycle.
We've got to fix the recycling
system, clearly, that's, that's
job one.
But more importantly, we have to
look at reuse models, using less
where we can, developing new
materials-- which is the plastic
makers' responsibility-- that
can be better recycled, and also
really important that we deploy
the technologies that are now
available to us at scale.
>> SULLIVAN: So you don't think
this is just an industry coming
up with a way to get out of a
crisis.
>> No, no, this is about all of
us understanding that we each
have a role to play in, in
making the system that we have
better and achieving the goals
that I think everybody would
have to say, "We cannot continue
with business as usual.
It's time for change, and this
is that time."
>> SULLIVAN: Hmm.
>> Let's put these away.
And let me show you another
recycling label.
>> SULLIVAN: Back 
in Oregon, I put the
question to David Allaway.
The question that people are
going to have is, what are they
supposed to do to make this
better?
>> The common refrain in this
whole field is that it's all up
to consumers.
And that's the way recycling has
been sold, as well, okay?
And, "You just need to sort out
your recyclables and do your
part.
Do your part, save the Earth,
recycle."
And when it comes to
understanding and reducing the
environmental impacts of
materials, including packaging,
consumers have the lowest amount
of leverage.
The big leverage is with the
producers.
Producers should disclose the
environmental impacts of their
materials publicly.
And by impacts, I don't mean
whether or not it can be
recycled.
I mean, what is the carbon
footprint?
What are the toxics emissions?
How much water was withdrawn to
produce this product?
>> SULLIVAN: The effect on the
planet.
>> The effect on the planet...
>> SULLIVAN: That this product
has.
>> That's right.
Here's this flexible bag, and
it's a, it's a plastic-metal
laminate...
>> SULLIVAN: Allaway is a
leading authority on the
environmental impacts of
materials like plastic.
So you're saying consumers stand
here and think, "What can I
recycle?"
But the question really is, "How
do I reduce?"
>> Reduce the impact.
The producers know what the
environmental impacts of these
different formats are, but they
don't disclose it.
Instead, what they disclose is
the recycling logo.
Because what it allows industry
to do is, it allows industry to
keep the conversation focused on
recycling, and never move the
conversation on to the bigger
issues, which are the full
environmental impacts of all
this stuff.
>> SULLIVAN: But it isn't just
industry that's kept consumers
focused on recycling for so
long.
Environmentalists have, too.
Looking back, do you think
putting the banner on the Mobro
was a mistake?
>> You know, I have looked at
that picture and pondered that
for decades.
I think we were naive.
I think we were overly
optimistic about the potential
of recycling.
And perpetuating that
narrative led us astray.
I mean, absolutely, society-
wide, we bought this myth that
recycling will solve the problem
and we don't need to worry about
the amount of plastic being
produced.
>> SULLIVAN: In Washington last
November, during America
Recycles Week...
>> Welcome to E.P.A.'s 2019
America Recycles Innovation
Fair.
>> SULLIVAN: E.P.A.
administrator Andrew Wheeler
was talking up the future of
recycling.
>> In many ways, we're just
getting started.
We need to increase the interest
in and demand for recycled
materials and more products made
from recycled materials.
>> SULLIVAN: Companies came with
their latest ideas.
>> It's 100% recycled content.
>> SULLIVAN: Some, like Keurig,
saw a need for better
technology.
Hi, I'm Laura Sullivan, NPR and
PBS "Frontline."
What's happening with K-Cups?
>> K-Cups are going recyclable.
>> SULLIVAN: I mean, you got
a, a couple of hurdles, in the
sense that you're going to have
to have people sorting out tiny
cups, right?
>> Ideally, mechanical sorting.
>> SULLIVAN: How many K-Cups do
you sell?
>> About 11 billion.
>> SULLIVAN: 11 billion, a year?
>> A year.
>> SULLIVAN: So, the idea would
be mechanical sorters pick out
11 billion K-Cups, right?
>> Ideally, we want all of them
back.
>> SULLIVAN: Others, like
Colgate-Palmolive, saw a need
for better education.
>> So, we're here today to
showcase our first-of-its-kind
recyclable tube.
>> SULLIVAN: So, if, if you put
this in your curbside tonight,
do you think that this tube
would be recycled?
>> We need more work.
We're working with other
organizations to get the word
out.
>> SULLIVAN: So, not yet?
>> Not yet, not yet.
>> SULLIVAN: I notice that you
guys put the big chasing arrows.
>> Correct.
>> SULLIVAN: Do you think that
because it's not quite
recyclable yet, that that might
be a little misleading?
>> We don't think that we're
being misleading because
technically it is recyclable.
>> SULLIVAN: As I made my way
through the innovation fair...
>> We are Keep America
Beautiful, we're a
non-for-profit.
>> SULLIVAN: You guys have been
around for a long time.
>> We've been around for over 65
years.
>> SULLIVAN: The mood was
optimistic.
Less than ten percent of plastic
has actually ever been recycled.
What do you think?
>> Well, that is a, it's a
challenge, and I think what's
good is that we're all working
together to help improve some
of those recycling habits and
understanding behavior.
>> SULLIVAN: Do you think that
America can recycle its way out
of this plastic crisis?
>> I believe with the proper
infrastructure and the proper
education, and we all work
together, as a collective, we
can.
>> The world is flooded with
plastic garbage.
>> 18 billion pounds of plastic
waste end up in the ocean every
year.
>> The equivalent of a garbage
truck dumped every minute.
>> SULLIVAN: How does this
conflict compare to what you saw
happen in the '80s and '90s,
when this sort of last came up
with this kind of fervor?
>> Well, one thing that's
different is, the, the actual
ecological context is different,
that we're really bumping up
against ecological limits.
Like, we can't delay this for
another ten, 20, 30 years, or
we're going to...
>> SULLIVAN: So, this is it.
>> This, this is it.
For the oil and gas industry,
the stakes are higher, too,
because single-use plastic is
their plan B.
They're not going to be able
to continue drill that oil and
gas and burn it for energy
anymore, because the climate
can't sustain it.
So this is their lifeline.
They are going to double down on
single-use plastic like we have
never seen.
So we're heading towards a real
battle.
This is it.
This is, this is the big war.
>> The U.N. estimates, by 2050,
there will be more plastic in
the ocean than fish.
>> Plastic in your food.
>> Microplastics are invading
our water supply.
>> SULLIVAN: How big a moment is
this?
>> I think it's a transitional
moment.
I think it is a big moment.
>> SULLIVAN: Biggest you've
seen, in your career?
>> It's the biggest I've seen.
This is the first time you've
ever seen companies from across
the whole supply chain all
coming together to, to say, "We
need to fix this."
So you can talk about this stuff
a lot.
We have to show hard results.
We have to start showing
success.
And we know that.
♪ ♪
>> SULLIVAN: 40 years on,
despite a plastic crisis that's
been getting worse, the
industry's future seems bright.
Demand for low-cost plastic
continues to grow.
And the production of new
plastic is rapidly expanding.
♪ ♪
>> Science tells us that we need
to significantly reduce our use
of materials overall, and yet
for the most part, the
policymakers are still focused
with laser-like intensity on
recycling.
There's nothing wrong with
promoting recycling, except when
recycling sucks all the oxygen
out of the room, and we never do
anything else.
For the last 40 years, the
conversation in this country has
been about the recycle part of
"Reduce, reuse, recycle."
>> SULLIVAN: That wasn't an
accident.
>> No, it was not an accident.
It was created.
It was manufactured.
♪ ♪
Captioned by
Media Access Group at WGBH
access.wgbh.org
>> For more on this and other
"Frontline" programs, visit our 
website at pbs.org/frontline.
♪ ♪
FRONTLINE's,
"Plastic Wars" is 
available on Amazon 
Prime Video.
♪ ♪
