Plastic Industry Accused of Using U.S. Schools for Marketing

The report, titled Plastic Expelled: Exposing Industry Propaganda in U.S. Schools, details a strategy modeled after tobacco and coal industry tactics. Companies exploit gaps in science resources and decentralized curriculum oversight to introduce biased materials that frame plastic production in a favorable light. These campaigns often reach students most vulnerable to the industry's physical presence, particularly in communities located near manufacturing facilities and infrastructure.

Madison Dennis, senior policy and advocacy manager at the Plastic Pollution Coalition, argues that schools are being turned into billboards for trillion-dollar industries. The organization calls for state departments of education to implement stricter oversight and provide more equitable, transparent funding to insulate classrooms from corporate influence. The study highlights that identifying these efforts is complicated by a network of industry associations that frequently rotate names to mask the origins of their educational outreach.