Guest episodes, event recordings and teasers

We can’t be the only ones responsible for plastic pollution. It’s time for producers and distributors of disposable plastic to take responsibility for where their packaging goes. Plastisphere presents an episode from Sustainable Asia’s “Mapping Asia’s Plastic Crisis” series on producer responsibility and packaging design, featuring experts from Indonesia, the Philippines and Singapore, hosted and produced by Marcy Trent Long and Bonnie Au.

Transcript: https://anjakrieger.com/plastisphere/2022/05/01/plastisphere-presents-sustainable-asia-producer-responsibility-and-packaging-design/

Guests: Helen Panangung, Von Hernandez, Miko Alino, Ashwin Subramaniam
Music: Sustainable Asia theme: Alexander Mauboussin, Blue Dot Sessions www.sessions.blue/, Plastisphere Theme: Dorian Roy
Thanks to: Lili Fuhr, Clemens Kunze, Heinrich Böll Foundation, Berlin/Hong Kong
Video credit: Break Free From Plastic Philippines Project
Updates on Twitter: @SustainableAsia

Listen to more podcasts from Sustainable Asia here:
- in English: https://www.sustainableasia.co/listen-in-english/
- in Chinese: https://www.sustainableasia.co/chinese/

Sustainable Asia: Producer Responsibility and Packaging Design

Remember our episode a few months ago on the history of the plastics treaty? To recap: In March, the United Nations Environmental Assembly decided to negotiate a global agreement to tackle plastic pollution. The ambitious plan is to develop a binding treaty covering the full lifecycle of plastics within the next two years, by 2024. 

This week, this process is moving forward at an international meeting in Uruguay. From November 28 to December 2nd 2022, the first session of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee – INC1 for short – will take place in the city of Punta del Elste. Anja will be sharing updates on Mastodon, where you find her as @ plastisphere @ podcasts.social. 

Here on the audio feed,  we present an introduction of what’s to expect in Uruguay - a guest episode by the Environmental Investigation Agency, a Nongovernmental Organization involved in the plastic treaty negotiations. Their podcast ahead of INC1 in Uruguay is really insightful, and they kindly shared it with us. 

Link to the podcast website: https://eia-international.org/news/eia-podcast-what-can-we-expect-from-negotiations-for-the-first-global-plastics-treaty/

Thanks to EIA Ocean Campaign Leader Christina Dixon, EIA Ocean Campaigner Jacob Kean-Hammerson and EIA Senior Press and Communication Officer and podcast host Paul Newman for sharing this episode.

What on Earth: Plastics Treaty Negotiations Start in Uruguay

A new guest episode to inspire your ears, mind and heart, kindly shared by Upstream. Plastic pollution is not just a waste issue. It starts with production, continues during use, and in the end, a lot of it ends up dumped or in the environment. But the problems plastics cause from production to disposal are not distributed equally. They impact some communities more than others, especially those already at a disadvantage and with little political power. One of the people fighting this environmental injustice is Tiza Mafira. She’s a lawyer and environmental activist from Jakarta, Indonesia, and one of the heroes of the documentary “The Story of Plastic”. She recently met up with Matt Prindiville on The Indisposable Podcast, a show produced by Upstream, a US-based non-profit. Hope you enjoy their conversation as much as I did!

About Upstream: 

Upstream is a US-based non-profit organization that sparks innovative solutions to plastic pollution by helping people, businesses and communities shift from single-use to reuse. They are conveners, content creators and curators, and solutions ideators – all in the interest of helping to advance a new reuse economy. Some of their offerings include several networks and forums for policymakers, activists, and businesses; Chart Reuse – a first-in-industry foodware reuse analytics platform - and the Annual Reuse Awards, The Reusies®, live and streaming online on June 7, 2023. Learn more at www.upstreamsolutions.org, www.chartreuse.eco, and www.thereusies.org.

Link to the episode page 
https://upstreamsolutions.org/podcast/story-of-plastic-in-indonesia

Mentions and links:

Tiza Mafira: https://www.climatepolicyinitiative.org/people/tiza-mafira/

Plastic Bag Diet Movement: https://dietkantongplastik.info/tentang-kami/

The Story of Plastic Doc https://www.storyofstuff.org/movies/the-story-of-plastic-documentary-film/

Stiv Wilson: https://peakplasticfoundation.org/

Break Free from Plastic: https://www.breakfreefromplastic.org/

BFFP Brand Audits: https://brandaudit.breakfreefromplastic.org/

Froilan "Froi" Grate: http://www.froilangrate.com/

Plastic Island Doc https://www.netflix.com/de-en/title/81597205

PR3 with Amy Larkin: https://www.resolve.ngo/blog/Meet-the-PR3-Team.htm

Algramo: https://algramo.com/en/

The Indisposable Podcast: The Story of Plastic

You’ve probably heard of bioplastics, these new kinds of plastics that are marketed as environmentally friendly. If you’ve been following this show, you might know the episode from 2019 in which Anja tried to better understand this group of materials and the confusion around it. If you haven't listened, here it is: https://soundcloud.com/plastisphere-podcast/ep-7-bioplastics

After speaking to several experts from science, industry and NGOs, Anja came away with the conclusion that bioplastics have their own issues, and that they won’t be a silver bullet for solving plastic pollution. That was five years ago. Since then, things have developed - and Anja repeatedly heard about one material that people put a lot of hope in: PHA, short for polyhydroxyalkanoates. The interesting thing is that PHAs are made by bacteria, but we only covered them shortly in our previous episode.

Now the people over at The Indisposable Podcast just posted an episode that covers this in greater detail. If you don’t know their podcast yet, do check it out! The Indisposable Podcast is produced by Upstream, a change agency in the US that works on the transition from the throw-away economy to one that is regenerative, circular and equitable. You can visit them at https://upstreamsolutions.org/

They recently had Lisa Erdle on the show, who works for 5 Gyres. 5Gyres is the NGO from California that has been leading the plastic discussion since the very beginning. It was their founders who first sampled all five ocean gyres for plastic pollution. Find out more here: https://www.5gyres.org/

Lisa shares their latest research with Upstream’s host, Brooking Gatewood: They tested biodegradable products in different environments, from a desert to the sea. Enjoy listening! 

Find more episodes of The Indisposable Podcast here:
https://upstreamsolutions.org/podcast

The Indisposable Podcast: Bioplastics and Plastic Alternatives

In this episode we focus on one of the biggest countries in Asia - India. India just passed its Plastic Overshoot day on April 23. India is the world's third largest contributor to plastic waste after China and the United States – but it also has a huge population, 1.4 billion people. So per capita, Indians produce only small amounts of plastic waste - much less than a person in Belgium, for example. What has been India’s position in the plastics treaty talks? Is the country on the right track to tackle the pollution? In this guest episode, you'll hear an excerpt from the podcast "In Focus" by The Hindu. It's hosted by G. Sampath, the Social Affairs Editor of The Hindu, who speaks with Satyarupa Shekhar, a public policy advocate who works on urban governance, data justice, and plastics pollution. Satyarupa tells us more about India's positions on the global plastic treaty. Besides its opposition to a majority voting option - a huge issue hindering the progress of the negotiations - what kind of treaty does India envision? 

Many thanks to Miko Aliño for sharing the Hindu's episode on Social, where I found it!

Links:

Listen to the full episode on The Hindu: https://www.thehindu.com/podcast/where-does-india-stand-in-the-global-plastics-treaty-negotiations-in-focus-podcast/article68032094.ece

Listen to "In Focus" on your favorite app: https://podcasts.apple.com/in/podcast/in-focus-by-the-hindu/id1494440867

Read India's country profile in the 2024 Plastic Overshoot report (page 138): https://plasticovershoot.earth/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/EA_POD_report_2024.pdf

Read more about the chemicals in plastics in the PlastChem report: https://plastchem-project.org/

In Focus by The Hindu: Where does India stand in the Global Plastics Treaty negotiations?

It's Monday, April 29, 2024, and the INC4, the fourth round of negotiations for the plastics treaty, is in the final hours. Negotiators of countries from around the world are sitting in conference rooms in Ottawa, Canada, debating how to end plastic pollution. Around them, the presence of the fossil and chemical industries has grown significantly. Compared to the last meeting in Nairobi 37 percent more lobbyists are attending. The effort to quantify this lobby presence was led by CIEL, the Center for International Environmental Law. In a press conference that Plastisphere is sharing with this episode, the NGO brought together speakers from Greenpeace, the Scientists’ Coalition for an Effective Plastics Treaty, and the Indigenous Peoples Caucus. It’s a very impressive hour. For context, one of the First Nations in Canada just had to declare a state of emergency: A plastics plant in their vicinity had released chemicals into their environment. This is just one of the incidents that points to the burden frontline communities living close to production and disposal facilities are carrying around the world. So environmental justice is a huge issue when it comes to plastic pollution. 

Hear more from the panel:
- Delphine Levi Alvares, Global Petrochemical Campaign Coordinator at CIEL
- Laura Salgado, Head of Campaign and Partnership at GGTC
- Graham Forbes, Head of Delegation, Greenpeace International
- Yuyun Ismawati, Convenor of the Indonesian Zero Waste Alliance (AZWI)
- Suzanne Smoke, Indigenous Knowledge Keeper from the Indigenous Peoples Caucus
- Bethanie Carney-Almroth, professor in ecotoxicology at Gothenburg University and Member of the Scientists’ Coalition For An Effective Plastic Treaty

CIEL's analysis of lobby attendance at INC4 was carried out in collaboration with Greenpeace, the Break Free From Plastic movement, the International Pollutants Elimination Network (IPEN), the Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives (GAIA), the Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA), and the Global Center for Good Governance in Tobacco Control (GGTC). 

Here's the link: https://www.ciel.org/news/fossil-fuel-and-chemical-industry-influence-inc4/

Pushing Back Against Corporate Capture at #INC4

Happy World Environment Day! We’ve got a treat for you. There’s a new podcast series which is really great – and we wanted to share it with you. It’s called Forever Chemicals, and it’s produced by Meg Carney and team at Black-Footed Ferret Productions. Listen to the teaser here on Plastisphere and then head over to https://www.theoutdoorminimalist.com/forever-chemicals to binge the whole series!

Transcript: https://anjakrieger.com/plastisphere/2024/06/05/forever-chemicals-teaser/

Voices in the teaser (in order of appearance):
- Stefan Posner, Textile and Polymer Chemist
- Arlene Blum, founder of the Green Science Policy Institute
- James Pollock, PFAS Lawyer
- Mike Schade, Toxic Free Future
- Alex Lauver, Outdoor Research
- Matt Eshed, Research Fellow 
- Ammi Borenstein, Snaplinc Consulting 
- Philippe Granjean, Environmental Epidemiologist

Forever Chemicals (Teaser)

Elena Berg is an environmental scientist and water sommelier. Her series „Something in the Water“ is a ten-part podcast mini-series on the fine water industry. As part of it, Elena addresses the elephant in the room: Plastic pollution. How much plastic is there in our drinking water? What’s the difference between tap and bottled water? And how concerned do we need to be? Elena and her guests, the anti-plastic activist Malia Elder and researcher Dr. Sherri Mason, will provide you with a lot of food for thought on social and environmental justice as well. If you’re familiar with the debate around plastic pollution and would like to go straight to the part on drinking water, you can skip the first fifteen minutes. However, the introduction is also really insightful, especially the part on closing the tap (the plastic tap, not the water tap).

If you liked this guest episode, check out the other episodes: www.pineforestpods.com/pods/something-in-the-water

The series is produced by Clark Marchese of Pine Forest Media, who recently started his own Plastic Podcast - very much worth checking out as well:
www.pineforestpods.com/pods/plastic-podcast

Thanks to Clark and Elena for sharing the episode and to their guests for their insights!

Guest Episode - Plastics in Drinking Water

The Plastic Mythbusters project is a collaboration between the Helmholtz Centre Hereon and the University of Strathclyde. Try our quiz and learn more in our detailed answers. You can also send us new claims to check or comments on our answers via the feedback form at the end of the quiz. We’d love to hear from you – to tackle the most persistent plastic myths!
Links
- Quiz: https://hub.hereon.de/portal/apps/experiencebuilder/experience/?id=07c344c64d1c42f89807351b9ad4a219
- About the project: https://www.coastalpollutiontoolbox.org/112001/index.php.en
- Coastal Pollution Toolbox https://www.coastalpollutiontoolbox.org/

Music by Blue Dot Sessions.

Fact-check your assumptions: Become a plastic mythbuster!

---Guest episode by Environmental Investigation Agency's "What on Earth?" podcast series---

The fifth round of talks in pursuit of a legally binding Global Plastics Treaty kicks off in Busan, South Korea shortly – but will we emerge with an agreement capable of tackling the world’s plastic crisis or will vested interests compromise the final vision? In this excellent episode, of the "What on Earth" podcast, EIA Ocean Campaign Leader Christina Dixon and Ocean Campaigner Jacob Kean-Hammerson join Senior Press & Communications Officer Paul Newman for an update on the progress so far and a look ahead to the challenges remaining for negotiators in Busan.
Published: 19 Nov 2024

Subscribe and listen to more "What on Earth?" episodes: https://eia-international.org/podcast/

Guest Episode: Will we get a viable Global Plastics Treaty or will compromise water it down?

Event Recording: The Scientists' Coalition for an Effective Plastics Treaty at #INC5

Event Recording: How governments subsidize plastic production - QUNO/Eunomia/IUCN at INC5

In this guest episode, G. Sampath and Satyarupa Shekhar discuss the fifth meeting of the UN’s Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC-5) and why it ended without delivering a legally binding treaty to address global plastic pollution.
Continue listening to the full episode here: https://www.thehindu.com/podcast/plastic-pollution-treaty-collapse/article68946877.ece

Guest Episode: Why didn't the plastic pollution talks in South Korea yield a treaty? (In Focus)

The podcast on plastic, people, and the planet by @anjakrieger.

Plastics have become the basis for our modern lives, but they also pollute the planet. Will we be able to develop a healthy relationship with these materials we’ve created?

Follow Anja on a journey into the world of synthetic polymers, their impacts on nature and ourselves, and the global quest to tackle plastic pollution. Each episode explores the issue from a different angle, featuring a diverse set of voices and viewpoints.

Guest episodes, event recordings and teasers

Plastisphere Podcast