Plastic Inc.: The Secret History and Shocking Future of Big Oil's Biggest Bet

An extraordinary exposé of the industry flooding our world with plastic--and now ramping up to make more than ever

"Deeply researched, sharply written, and totally compelling." --Elizabeth Kolbert, author of the The Sixth Extinction

"It is impossible not to compare Beth Gardiner's Plastic Inc. to Rachel Carson's Silent Spring." --John Vaillant, author of Fire Weather

"A breathtaking and revelatory exposé about one of the world's most reckless industries--and also a fascinating secret history of the modern world." --Christopher Leonard, author of Kochland

Plastic, the foundational material of modern consumerism, is everywhere in our daily lives. But the oil and petrochemical companies making it are hiding in plain sight. Because for all the vivid coverage of where plastic ends up, there is remarkably little discussion of where it comes from. Today, industry is pouring billions of dollars into plans to double, or even triple, the amount it churns out, even as individuals concerned about plastic's out-of-control proliferation try to use less. As Big Oil stares down a future of diminishing demand for fossil fuels, plastic has become its financial lifeline.

Award-winning journalist Beth Gardiner gives readers an up-close look at the plastic industry's relentless growth, its extraordinary profits, its toxic pollution and its hidden role in exacerbating climate change. Every chapter in Plastic Inc. brings new revelations, including:

• How Big Oil sold us the lie that recycling was the panacea for our plastic worries, even though companies always knew it couldn't work at scale

• The hidden health crisis caused by chemicals in the items we use every day, and scientists' growing fear that microplastics may pose even bigger dangers

• How the industries making and using plastic have wielded political muscle to stop bans on single-use items like plastic bags, while blaming us for the global mess they've created--and profited from

• That Big Oil's plastic dreams spring directly from decades of denying climate science, and draw on the playbook of deceit this industry wrote--one later borrowed by tobacco and pharma companies

• The characters and personalities behind a hidden corporate and political scandal perpetuated over decades

Plastic Inc.'s gripping stories will reframe for readers a problem many of us think we understand, but which has deeper roots, and greater dangers, than we know.

Author: Beth Gardiner
Publisher: Avery Publishing Group
Published: 02/24/2026
Pages: 352
Binding Type: Hardcover
Weight: 1.08lbs
Size: 9.18h x 6.40w x 1.29d
ISBN: 9780593717103

About the Author
Beth Gardiner is an American journalist based in London. Her work has been published in outlets including The New York Times, The Guardian, National Geographic, The Washington Post, Scientific American and HuffPost, and she's a former longtime Associated Press reporter. Her first book, Choked: Life and Breath in the Age of Air Pollution, was named one of 2019's best by The Guardian, and was a finalist for the National Association of Science Writers' Science in Society book award.