Plastic Fantastic

Highly informative documentary, looking at the problem of plastic pollution from all sides. While the awareness of the crisis grows, plastic production is skyrocketing. Is the industry on the right path to solve the problem? Is there a way for plastic recycling to actually work? 
 
Plastic Fantastic opens with a jaw-dropping statement: ‘There are 500 times more plastic particles in the sea than there are stars in our galaxy.’ This becomes understandable when you realise fragments of the very first plastic item that was discarded in nature, are still there. Sarah-Jeanne Royer tells us this, cheerfully picking up pieces of plastic litter from the beach, to be studied and categorised later. It’s research like hers that raised public awareness of plastic pollution.  
 
However, production is expected to keep growing enormously. We witness the consequences in Louisiana, where Sharon Lavigne protests the coming of yet another petrochemical plant causing high cancer rates. In Kenya, photographer James Wakibia successfully campaigned to ban plastic bags, and keeps on campaigning. Lobbyists from the industry beg us to trust them to solve the problem. And scientists address the question: what does it take to actually make plastic recyclable? A thorough look at an essential problem of our times.