Climate Curious What Big Oil doesn’t want you to know about plastic, with journalist Beth Gardiner
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Feb 13, 2026 Beth Gardiner, environmental journalist and author of Plastic Inc., untangles how Big Oil turned petrochemicals into a plastics empire. She traces plastics from Tupperware to disposability, reveals industry strategies to boost profits, and discusses policy fixes like producer responsibility and moratoria on new plants.
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Plastic's Postwar Production Surge
- Plastic production has climbed relentlessly since the 1950s as consumerism and plastics became linked.
- Beth Gardiner explains this surge is tied to fossil fuel companies monetizing oil and gas feedstocks as plastics.
Tupperware Parties Normalized Plastic
- Earl Tupper invented Tupperware and used social selling to embed plastics into household life.
- Gardiner uses Tupperware parties as an early example of intentional plastic adoption.
Plastics As Oil Companies' 'Plan B'
- Big oil sees plastics as a strategic revenue stream as fuel demand falls.
- Gardiner says they convert oil and gas residues into plastic to sustain profits amid energy transitions.
