Since production of the ‘miracle material’ took off in the 1950s, plastic has become a cornerstone of modern-day life, with uses ranging from life-changing prosthetic limbs to utterly superfluous individually wrapped fruit. Low rates of reuse and recycling mean that products consumed in minutes take hundreds of years to decompose. A colossal amount of plastic enters the ocean every year, where it degrades habitats, chokes wildlife, and is eaten by fish. Plastic is not just a battle for environmentalists. The debate is intertwined with broader concerns, from social inequalities to health and the plastic value chain links the Global North and South in an unequal cycle of extraction, consumption, and dumping.

Awareness has rocketed in recent years. Countries from France and the UK to Kenya and Chile have introduced product bans, with varying results. China’s import ban on certain kinds of waste has been a wake-up call to European countries previously happy to export their refuse elsewhere. Yet while momentum to tackle the crisis is growing, the struggle remains an uphill one. Production of plastics is set to increase by 40 per cent in the next decade and industry lobbies are gearing up to weaken new legislation. Now more than ever, the plastic debate is a crucial one.