How the plastic industry turned the pandemic to its advantage

Corporations along the plastics value chain have faced a number of environmental and health crises, from toxic scandals to marine plastic waste and the climate emergency. In the two years leading up to the pandemic, the public backlash against plastic was a major concern for industry leaders.

However, the pandemic highlights the importance of plastic products for healthcare and hygiene. This temporary respite from public anti-plastic sentiment opened the door for industry to push back against single-use plastics bans.

During the pandemic, plastic was restored to its original paradoxical status as both a miracle and a menace for society. By the end of 2020, industry leaders had fully embraced the new pandemic narrative about the essential role of plastics in society and many expressed optimism about their future growth.

As one petrochemical industry executive enthused: "The Covid-19 pandemic highlighted how essential our products are. We saw record sales and record volumes for our products throughout the pandemic… over the long term we can continue to see that kind of growth."

The Changing Markets Foundation's report Talking Trash concluded that "the Covid-19 health crisis has, once again, shown that Big Plastic is always primed and ready to co-opt a crisis to its advantage, pushing to undermine environmental legislation or any restrictions on its products… The plastics industry is making cold calculations to carry on with business as usual."

We need legislation and binding regulations to address the plastics crisis.

tinywhale

2022-09-26 05:44:57 +08:00

@83f420984 口音问题严重么？距离"white American male"很远
发音准确性如何？可以听懂，没有大问题
有什么需要改进的地方？这段录音里，发音最“正宗”的词是 both ，因为你用了“上声”声调，试一下其它的词用同样的方法。一个小的改进是“the”发音，e 这个字母在 the 里面是发它本身的声音，就好像唱 ABCD 字母歌里面的 E ，基本上等于中文数字“一”的发音。类似的，“a”这个词也是它本身字母 A 的发音。

hopefully that helps

第一次读英语文章，请大家帮听听

How the plastic industry turned the pandemic to its advantage