The Case of Plastics: Resources & Readings

Assigned Readings

• American Chemistry Council. “High Phthalates.” (Industry, Health)

• Assis, George F. “Applying Recycled Plastic Lumber Technology to Short-Span Bridges“, STRUCTUREmag.org. October, 2010. (Invention, Industry)

• Barry, Carolyn. “Plastic Breaks Down in Ocean, After All—and Fast.” National Geographic News, August 20, 2009. (Health, Waste)

• Berkeley Plastics Task Force. “Seven Common Misperceptions about Plastics.” EcologyCenter.org, April 8, 1996. (Waste, Sustainability)

• “Bisphenol A: Food Containers, Effects on Humans, Gov’t Regs.” Video, Sylvia Chase, narrator, KCET, 2009. (Health)

• Burke, Monte. “Plastic Man.” Forbes.com, December 23, 2002. (Invention)

• Caliendo, Heather. “Coca-Cola GM of PlantBottle packaging talks new partnerships, future growth,” Plastics Today, October 24, 2012. (Industry, Sustainability, Invention)

• Der Hovanesian, Mara. “I Have Just One Word for You: Bioplastics.” Bloomburg Businessweek Magazine, August 13, 2008. (Sustainability, Invention) 

• Deutsch, Claudia. “Plastic Recycling Is a Work in Progress.”  New York Times, March 30, 2002. (Sustainability, Industry, Waste)

• Endocrine Society. “Ask the Expert: Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals (EDCs).” June 29, 2022. (Health)

• Hamilton, Jon. “Surrounded by Plastic, NICU Infants Tested for Risk.” Audio, NPR, May 19, 2009. (Health)

• Howard, Brian Clark. “Green Chemistry Discovery Could Lead to Safer Plastics.”  Atlantic, Technology Blog, March 15, 2011. (Invention, Sustainability)

• Kanellos, Michael. “Reaping Oil from Discarded Plastic.” New York Times, “Green: A Blog about Energy and the Environment,” September 29, 2011. (Sustainability)

• Knoblauch, Jessica A. “The Environmental Toll of Plastics.”  Environmental Health News, February 1, 2022. (Health, Industry, Invention, Sustainability, Waste)

• Martin, Steve. “Purdue innovation affordably turning plastics into fuel,” Purdue Research Foundation, June 15, 2021. (Invention)

• McDonald, Mark. “The Fatal Shore, Awash in Plastic.” International Herald Tribune, August 23, 2012. (Waste)

• Mieszkowski, Katherine. “Plastic Bags Are Killing Us.”  Salon, August 10, 2007. (Waste)

• Moore, Charles. “Seas of Plastic.” Video, TED-Ed. (Waste)

• Oceana, “Q&A: Susan Freinkel, author of ‘Plastic: A Toxic Love Story,’ on recycling myths and the problem with single-use plastics,” January 27, 2020. (Industry, Waste, Sustainability)

• Sanders, Robert. “New process makes ‘biodegradable’ plastics truly compostable.” Berkeley News, April 21, 2021. (Sustainability)

• Sharpe, Richard. “Is It Time to End Concerns over the Estrogenic Effects of Bisphenol A?.”  Toxicological Sciences 114:1 (2010): 1–4. (Industry, Health)

• SPI: The Plastics Industry Association. “The New Circular Economy IV: EPR policies must be well thought out to be successful.” (Invention, Industry)

• Strom, Stephanie. “Companies Pick Up Used Packaging, and Recycling’s Cost.”  New York Times, March 23, 2012. (Waste, Industry)

• Swanson, Maureen, and Rebecca Roberts. “Chemical Safety Bill Has Diverse Support.” Philadelphia Inquirer, January 5, 2012. (Health)

• This Is Plastics, website, SPI: The Plastics Industry Trade Association.

• University of Cambridge. “Plastic Electronics.” Video, 2012. (Invention)

• University of Cambridge. “Plastic Logic: From Innovation to Impact.” August 1, 2009. (Invention)

• Warner, Bernhard. “In the Fight against Plastics, Mushrooms Become an Unlikely Weapon.”  Bloomburg Businessweek, Innovation and Design, January 14, 2013. (Sustainability)

Other Sources

• Agilyx.com website. (Sustainability, Waste)

• American Chemistry Council website. (Industry)

• American Chemistry Council. “Steve Russell: Too Valuable To Waste: Rethinking Used Plastics,” 2014. (Industry)

• Anastas, Paul. “Green Chemistry: Innovations for an Environmental and Economic Prosperity.” Lecture, UCLA Institute of the Environment and Sustainability, Los Angeles, November 16, 2011. (Sustainability)

• Beyer, Eben. Are Mushrooms the New Plastic? Video, TED Talks, July 2010. (Sustainability, Invention)

• Biddle, Mike. “We Can Recycle Plastic.” Video, TED Talks, 2011. (Sustainability, Industry, Waste)

• Bisphenol-A.org website. “About Bisphenol-A.” (Industry, Health)

• Black, Harvey. “Chemical Reaction: The U.S. Response to REACH.” Environmental Health Perspectives 116:3 (March 2008): 125–127. (Industry, Health)

• Bytesize Science. “Prized Science – Robert Langley: A Founding Father of Tissue Engineering.” Video, 2012. (Invention)

• “Can a Plastic ‘Alter Human Cells’?.” USA Today website. (Health)

• Carnini, Frank. “Bewildering Bioplastics.” Audio, Eco RI News. (Sustainability)

• “Chemical Fallout.” Milwaukee-Wisconsin Journal Sentinel, JSOnline website. (Health)

• ChemMatters. “Plastics Go Green.” Video, 2010. (Sustainability)

• Cheung, Telly. “The Sustainable Future.” Video, 2011. (Sustainability)

• Coca-Cola Company. 2021 Business & Environmental, Social and Governance Report, April 2022. (Industry, Sustainability, Invention)

• Cohen, Nancy. “For Empty Water Bottles, There’s an Afterlife.” Audio, NPR News Special Series, Plastic Peril? June 8, 2007. (Sustainability, Waste)

• “Earthrise: Plastic Fuel.” Video, Earthrise, March 12, 2014. (Sustainability, Waste)

• “EcoTalk: Bio-degradable Plastics.” Video, Eco Talk, 2010. (Sustainability)

• Environmental Protection Agency, Green Chemistry website. (Invention, Sustainability)

• Environmental Working Group. “The Future of U.S. Chemicals Policy.” Video, 2009. (Health)

• Flatow, Ira. “Building Bridges from Plastic Shampoo Bottles.” Audio, NPR, Talk of the Nation: Science Friday, December 23, 2011. (Invention)

• Gerlock, Grant. “Bioplastic Boom.” Audio report, KQED QUEST Nebraska, July 13, 2011. (Sustainability)

• Gunther, Marc. “Coca-Cola’s New PlantBottle Sows Path to Greener Packaging.” Audio, Greenbiz.com, December 1, 2009. (Industry, Invention)

• Hamilton, Jon. “Public Concern, Not Science, Prompts Plastics Ban.” Audio, NPR, Special Report: Plastic Peril? April 1, 2009. (Health, Industry)

• Hopewell, Jefferson; Robert Dvorak; and Edward Kosier. “Plastics Recycling: Challenges and Opportunities.” Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B 364:1526 (July 2009): 2115–2126. (Sustainability, Waste, Industry)

• Jordan, Chris. “Chris Jordan on Midway Atoll and the Great Pacific Garbage Patch.” Audio, New York Review of Books podcast, November 11, 2009. (Waste)

• Jordan, Chris. “Polluting Plastics.” Video, 2010. (Waste)

• Kahn, Jennifer. “Plastic. Fantastic?.” Mother Jones, June 2009. (Waste, Sustainability, Health)

• Kim, Sun Joo. “Europe’s First Bridge Made from Recycled Plastic.” SmartPlanet.com, October 31, 2011. (Invention, Industry)

• Koch, Holger M., and Antonia M. Calafat. “Human Body Burdens of Chemicals Used in Plastic Manufacture.” Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B 364:1526 (July 2009): 2063–2078. (Health)

• Loepp, Don. “Columnist says plastic is ‘too good to throw away’.” Plastics News Blog, March 17, 2011. (Health, Industry, Invention, Sustainability, Waste)

• Lytle, Claire Le Guern. “When the Mermaids Cry: The Great Plastic Tide.” CoastalCare.org. (Health, Waste)

• McLendon, Russell. “What Is the Great Pacific Ocean Garbage Patch?.” Mother Nature Network, February 24, 2010. (Waste)

• Meeker, John D.; Sheela Sathyanarayana; and Shanna H. Swann. “Phthalates and Other Additives in Plastic: Human Exposure and Associated Health Outcomes.” Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B 364:1526 (June 14, 2009): 2097–2113. (Health)

• Moore, Charles. “Ten Years Later, the Gyre Is All Around Us.” Video, Ted-Ed, 2010. (Waste)

• National Institute for Environmental Health Sciences, “Endocrine Disruptors.” no date. (Health)

• Plastic Pollution Coalition website (Waste)

• Plastic Pollution Coalition. “Plastic Lasts Longer Than Life.” Video, 2012. (Waste)

• Plastics Europe. “Innovating the Future.”  (Invention)

• PlasticsMakeItPossible.com. “Types of Plastics.” American Chemistry Council. (Invention, Sustainability)

• “Recycled Plastic Bridge Supports Tank.” Video, 2009. (Invention)

• Smith, Carol. “Plastic to Oil Fantastic.” Our World 2.0: United Nations University website, August 27, 2010. (Sustainability, Waste)

• Sneha, Barot. “BPA-Free and Beyond: Protecting Reproductive Health from Environmental Toxins.” Guttmacher Policy Review 13:1 (Winter 2010). (Health)

• Society of the Plastics Industry. “History of Plastics.” Video, 2009. (Invention)

• Society of the Plastics Industry. “Scott Vitters of Coca-Cola at Sustain ’08.” Video, 2009. (Industry, Invention)

• Song, J. H.; R. J. Murphy; R. Narayan; and G.B.H. Davies. “Biodegradable and Compostable Alternatives to Conventional Plastics.”Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B 364:1526 (July 2009): 2127–2139. (Sustainability)

• Sussman, David D. “Three reasons why banning plastic bags is problematic.” The Conversation, July 17, 2020. (Industry)

• Swan, Shanna. “Endocrine-Disrupting Chemicals are Contributing to Decreasing Sperm Counts.” Video, Mount Sinai Health System, March 5, 2021 (Health)

• Terry, Beth. “Living a Plastic-Free Life.” Audio, Minnesota Public Radio News, August 20, 2012. (Waste)

• Terry, Beth. “Living Plastic Free.” Video, Tedx, 2010. (Waste)

• “Times Topics: Plastic Bags.” New York Times website. (Waste, Industry)

• “Unfinished Business: Extended Producer Responsibility for Post-Consumer Packaging.” Video, 2012. (Waste, Industry)

• University of Cambridge. “Plastic Electronics: A Neat Solution.” March 2012. (Invention)

• Wargo, John. “Pervasive Plastics: Why the U.S. Needs New and Tighter Controls.” Yale Environment 360 (November 12, 2009). (Health)

• Young, Robin. “Should Supermarket Plastic Bags Be Banned?” Audio, WBUR Boston, Here and Now, November 29, 2012. (Industry, Waste).