Guilt-free plastics? The idea of plastic credits and its realities

Guilt-free plastics? The idea of plastic credits and its realities

Author: Anja Krieger November 7, 2025 Duration: 31:40
Wouldn’t it be great to have something like guilt-free plastics? A plastic product you can just buy without worrying that you are contributing to pollution in the environment? That’s the promise of plastic credits. The idea is that if you do have to buy a plastic product, this amount of plastic is being offset or saved from the environment somewhere else. This is similar to the concept of carbon credits to tackle climate change. But there’s a lot of criticism of the idea of offsetting plastics or greenhouse gases this way. Are these credits really doing what they claim to do? In this episode we’re going to hear a story from Kenya, and more specifically, Dandora. Dandora is a neighborhood in Nairobi and the home of Kenya’s biggest dumpside - an open field with mountains of trash and waste. It’s the workplace of Dandora’s waste pickers, the people making a living from collecting anything valuable they find on the dumpsite. These waste pickers doing a hard and dangerous job, and face a lot of competition. They compete with the big machines that move the trash around, their fellow waste workers, and now, they are also competing with a new concept: Plastic credits. I learned more about this on the sidelines of the plastic treaty talks in Geneva this summer, where I met Benard Ogembo from Kenya and Conor McGlone from the UK, the two journalists who investigated the connection between plastic credits and the Dandora dumpsite. We were later joined by Arpita Bhagat, the plastic policy lead of GAIA Asia Pacific, an organization with deep insights into the situation of waste pickers. Read Benard's and Conor's story on Desmog: https://www.desmog.com/2025/08/05/new-global-market-for-plastic-credits-threatens-livelihoods-at-kenyan-dump/ Read the GAIA Smoke & Mirrors report: https://www.breakfreefromplastic.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/NOV-29-2023_Smoke-and-Mirrors-the-Realities-of-Plastic-Credits-and-Offsetting.pdf Original sounds from the Dandora dumpsite in Anja's intro by James Wakibia. Intro in Dholuo by Benard Ogembo.

Anja Krieger hosts Plastisphere: A podcast on plastic pollution in the environment, a series that digs into the complex story of synthetic polymers. This isn't just a catalog of environmental damage, though that reality is confronted directly. Instead, the podcast carefully examines how these materials, foundational to contemporary life, now permeate every corner of the natural world and our own bodies. Anja guides listeners through a nuanced exploration, asking whether a sustainable coexistence is even possible. She doesn't provide easy answers but facilitates necessary conversations, bringing together researchers, activists, industry insiders, and communities on the front lines. Each episode is built on specific stories and scientific insights, moving from the deep ocean to human bloodstreams to policy halls. You'll hear about the chemistry of plastics, their journey as waste, and the cultural and economic systems that perpetuate their use. The strength of this podcast lies in its commitment to presenting a genuine spectrum of perspectives, avoiding simple blame in favor of understanding a truly global dilemma. It’s a thoughtful, sometimes surprising, and always human-centered look at one of the most defining material challenges of our time.
Author: Language: English Episodes: 50

Plastisphere: A podcast on plastic pollution in the environment
Podcast Episodes
#PlasticsTreaty Shorts: Unknown chemicals with Walter Waldman [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 5:48
Similar to how food products contain a list of ingredients, we need to know which chemicals plastic products contain. This is not an easy task, but it would be a huge step if producers lifted the secret around the chemic…
#PlasticsTreaty Shorts: Consumption Reduction with Kristian Syberg [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 6:10
Recycling is often seen as a golden standard for minimizing plastic pollution. And while recycling definitely does play a role in the future, it should not be the first priority. Kristian Syberg, an associate professor a…
#PlasticsTreaty Shorts: Three Principles with Chris Dixon [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 6:34
The global plastics treaty is currently being drafted by the global community - an international legally binding instrument on plastic pollution, including in the marine environment. One of the experts attending the meet…
What Day is Plastic Overshoot? [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 51:29
The global plastics treaty is in the making, and the discussions around solutions to plastic pollution are gaining traction. To give you more food for thought, Anja tries out a new format, the Plastisphere Conversations…
Science over Profit - Demands for the Plastic Treaty [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 33:57
On March 2, 2022, countries from around the world agreed to establish a global treaty to end plastic pollution. After the first meetings in Senegal and Uruguay, the discussions around the treaty are in full swing. Next,…