Break Free From Plastic - Winter Will Come Again

By: Break Free From Plastic
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  • Summary

  • Welcome to the Winter Will Come Again podcast, where we will be exploring the story behind the energy crisis Europe faced the winter of 2022, its connection with plastic production and why, to ease Europe’s energy needs, plastic has to go. 


    In 2022, once it became clear that Russian gas supplies were to be cut by at least 80%, energy costs in Europe surged. The debate around the energy crisis dominated policy and media spaces, and this in combination with the cost of living crisis that concerned countries throughout the continent, forced industry, businesses and individuals to adapt their behaviour as governments scrambled to secure gas reserves that would meet energy demands. 


    What this scrambling looked like has an unlikely connection to plastic production: while in EU Member States like Germany, the general public was told that they should take cold showers and use less heat to reduce the overall fossil fuel consumption, the EU explored new trade deals to secure energy supplies for the colder months of the year, in particular with the United States and African countries like Senegal.


    Not only did EU governments demand far more action from individual citizens than from industrial sectors that consume the lion’s share of fossil feedstock and energy, they also completely overlooked the huge potential to actually reduce fossil fuel consumption by tackling unnecessary use. 


    What does unnecessary use look like? Well, if the global petrochemical producers were a country, they would be the third-largest oil consumer in the world and the fourth-largest gas consumer. These were the findings from Break Free From Plastic’s Winter is Coming report published late in 2022 in the midst of the energy crisis. 


    This extremely high fossil fuel-consuming industry remained and still remains a complete oversight in the EU public energy and climate debates. This is despite clear and feasible pathways to reduce consumption of one of its main products: plastic. The EU cannot buy its way out of the multiple current crises by simply replacing Russian fossil fuels with imports from other regions. Every barrel of oil or cubic metre of fossil gas that goes towards plastics is a major roadblock towards the goals of tackling the climate and plastics crises and breaking free from the fossil dependency that foments instability and fuels wars.


    Join us in this three episode podcast series as we explore the stories behind the data of the Winter is Coming report. We will be joined by activists, researchers and campaigners from Europe, Africa and the US. Each bringing new insight and perspective to help us understand why this high fossil fuel-consuming industry remains a complete oversight in the EU public energy and climate debates and what can be done to ease the energy dependency of Europe on the US and countries in Africa.




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Episodes
  • Pathways To Decreasing Plastic Production

    Pathways To Decreasing Plastic Production
    Aug 30 2023
    Episode 3: Pathways to decreasing plastic production


    We have to drastically reduce our fossil fuel consumption, not replace one with another.  To regain international leadership in fighting the climate and plastic pollution crises and to protect citizens from escalating prices and resulting conflicts, the European Union needs to confront and drastically reduce virgin plastic production, starting with halting the production of unnecessary single-use plastics and packaging. EU packaging and packaging waste policies and global policy opportunities such as the Global Plastics Treaty are paving the way for transformation. But what is the real potential for change? And what are environmental activists expecting from these processes? Join us for the last episode of this podcast series with host Sarah Diedro Jordão and her guests Esra Tat (Zero Waste Europe) and Carroll Muffett (Center for International Environmental Law). 


    Transcript: Coming soon! 


    Recorded in April 2023. 


    Read the Winter is Coming report: https://www.breakfreefromplastic.org/winter-is-coming/ 


    Amadeo Ghiotto and Delphine Lévi Alvarès co-authored the report, with support from Andy Gheorghiu (Andy Gheorghiu Consulting), and review by Lili Fuhr (CIEL), Tom Harrison (GGON), Carroll Muffett (CIEL), Joan Marc Simon (Zero Waste Europe), Sarah Baulch (The Pew Charitable Trusts), and Jozef Vandermeulen (FairFin). 


    Find out more about Esra Tat: https://zerowasteeurope.eu/about/team/#team2-esra-tat 


    Find out more about Carroll Muffett: https://www.ciel.org/about-us/ciel-staff/carroll-muffett/ 


    This podcast series was created by Amadeo Ghiotto (Greenpeace) and Bethany Spendlove Keeley (Break Free From Plastic).


    Our audio editor and podcast consultant is Anja Krieger.


    The Music is from the YouTube Audio Library:

    Accralate - The Dark Contenent by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

    Source: http://incompetech.com/music/royalty-free/index.html?isrc=USUAN1100341

    Artist: http://incompetech.com/


    Cover design elements by Bryan Mathers, Visual Thinkery.




    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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    28 mins
  • Plastic Production From The Frontline

    Plastic Production From The Frontline
    Aug 15 2023
    Episode 2: Plastic production from the frontline 


    Since the Russian war on Ukraine and the cut of supplies of gas and oil to Europe, the EU is replacing Russian fossil fuels with imports from other regions. Though the EU’s fossil fuel needs could be drastically reduced through cutting virgin plastic production, EU member states are expanding to find new sources of oil and gas to build new infrastructures. As a result, communities across the world are facing the harsh consequences of the harmful plastic production industry. In this episode, Sarah Diedro Jordão speaks to Sarah Martik of the Center for Coalfield Justice in the USA and Dean Bhekumuzi Bhebhe of Power Shift Africa in South Africa. How does Europe’s hunger for fossil fuels exacerbate negative environmental, social and cultural impacts elsewhere?


    Recorded in April 2023. 


    Read the Winter is Coming report: https://www.breakfreefromplastic.org/winter-is-coming/ 


    Amadeo Ghiotto and Delphine Lévi Alvarès co-authored the report, with support from Andy Gheorghiu (Andy Gheorghiu Consulting), and review by Lili Fuhr (CIEL), Tom Harrison (GGON), Carroll Muffett (CIEL), Joan Marc Simon (Zero Waste Europe), Sarah Baulch (The Pew Charitable Trusts), and Jozef Vandermeulen (FairFin). 


    Find out more about Sarah Martik: https://centerforcoalfieldjustice.org/about/ 


    Find out more about Dean Bhebhe and Powershift Africa: https://www.powershiftafrica.org/ and check out their Don’t Gas Africa campaign: https://dont-gas-africa.org/ 


    This podcast series was created by Amadeo Ghiotto (Greenpeace) and Bethany Spendlove Keeley (Break Free From Plastic).


    Our audio editor and podcast consultant is Anja Krieger.


    The Music is from the YouTube Audio Library:

    Accralate - The Dark Contenent by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

    Source: http://incompetech.com/music/royalty-free/index.html?isrc=USUAN1100341

    Artist: http://incompetech.com/


    Cover design elements by Bryan Mathers, Visual Thinkery.



    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
    Show More Show Less
    33 mins
  • What or Who Is The Petro-Elephant?

    What or Who Is The Petro-Elephant?
    Aug 1 2023
    Episode 1: What is the petro-elephant? 


    Plastic production is by far the largest industrial oil, gas, and electricity user in the EU, overshadowing other energy-intensive industries, contributing to the ongoing energy crisis in Europe. 


    Its unseemly ties to the energy crisis bring to light the massive energy use of the petrochemical industry. Plastics are oil and gas, and should be addressed as such in energy and climate debates. Yet we are seeing a strong buildout of petrochemical and plastic production facilities. Something is not adding up so our host Sarah Diedro Jordão speaks to writers of Break Free From Plastic’s Winter Is Coming report to the podcast to tell us their groundbreaking insights. With Delphine Lévi Alvarès of Break Free From Plastic & CIEL in Belgium and Andy Gheorghiu, activist and campaigner in Germany.


    Transcript: Coming soon! 


    Recorded in April 2023. 


    Read the Winter is Coming report: https://www.breakfreefromplastic.org/winter-is-coming/ 


    Amadeo Ghiotto and Delphine Lévi Alvarès co-authored the report, with support from Andy Gheorghiu (Andy Gheorghiu Consulting), and review by Lili Fuhr (CIEL), Tom Harrison (GGON), Carroll Muffett (CIEL), Joan Marc Simon (Zero Waste Europe), Sarah Baulch (The Pew Charitable Trusts), and Jozef Vandermeulen (FairFin). 


    Find out more about Delphine Lévi Alvarès:  https://www.ciel.org/about-us/ciel-staff/delphine-levi-alvares/ 


    Find out more about Andy Gheorghiu: https://humansandnature.org/andy-gheorghiu/ 


    This podcast series was created by Amadeo Ghiotto (Greenpeace) and Bethany Spendlove Keeley (Break Free From Plastic).


    Our audio editor and podcast consultant is Anja Krieger.


    The Music is from the YouTube Audio Library:

    Accralate - The Dark Contenent by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

    Source: http://incompetech.com/music/royalty-free/index.html?isrc=USUAN1100341

    Artist: http://incompetech.com/


    Cover design elements by Bryan Mathers, Visual Thinkery.


    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
    Show More Show Less
    31 mins

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