Toward a Post-Plastic Age:
Practical Steps for a
Healthier Planet
Untangling Plastics offers a step-by-step roadmap from recycling leader Bob Gedert to help us phase out plastics and move toward true sustainability.
About The Author
Bob Gedert is a Cincinnati-based recycling consultant with forty-five years of experience in guiding communities toward sustainable materials management through a systems approach, bridging recycling best practices and sustainability toward local circular economies. He has experience in building local economic development practices with zero-waste goals through private-public partnerships that utilize local markets for recyclables through innovative entrepreneurship and collaborative business networks.
Previously, Bob served as department director of Austin Resource Recovery, leading the city toward zero-waste goals. In addition to his tenure at Austin, he has served in the leadership of resource recovery in many communities including the city of Fresno, California, as chief of recycling operations; the counties of Auglaize and Highland in Ohio; the city of Cincinnati, Ohio; and communities across Indiana as chief of source reduction and recycling with the Indiana Department of Environmental Management.
Bob is the former president of the National Recycling Coalition and previously served on the board of directors for the Indiana Recycling Coalition and the Association of Ohio Recyclers. He was also the executive director of the California Resource Recovery Association and a founding member of the California Product Stewardship Council and the National Stewardship Action Council.
In 2019, Bob was awarded the Lifetime Recycling Achievement Award from the National Recycling Coalition. In 2024, Bob was selected for inclusion in Marquis Who’s Who for Expertise in Education and Waste Management.
Bob is an adjunct professor at Xavier University in Cincinnati, teaching climate change. He is married to his college sweetheart, Kathy. His greatest pleasure in life is watching his three children and two grandchildren make a difference in their communities. He enjoys walking in the local parks with his wife.
Untangling Plastics
Releasing November 14
Praise for Untangling Plastics
“In Untangling Plastics, Bob Gedert offers a detailed one-stop shop for what we must know and what we must do to turn back the clock on plastic dependence. By exposing the recycling farce, the toxic threat, the LCA blind spot, and the climate connection, Gedert illustrates the threat of plastics’ growth trajectory and what it means for the human condition. Importantly, he gets down to brass tacks in laying out the solution. Untangling Plastics is an invaluable user guide to saving our plastic-plagued planet.”
“Bob Gedert’s Untangling Plastics leans on personal experience and science-backed research to thoughtfully unravel the toxic, intertwined issues of fossil fuel extraction, plastic production, plastic pollution, and the climate crisis; Gedert importantly shows us that it is only possible to address all of these aspects of the issue together—plastic pollution cannot be solved in isolation.”
“Bob Gedert’s Untangling Plastics is a compelling and urgent examination of how plastics contribute significantly to the climate crisis—not just as waste but across their entire lifecycle rooted in fossil fuels. Drawing on his leadership in the zero waste and recycling movement, Gedert exposes the myths of plastic recycling and the deceptive practices of the plastics industry. The book calls for a precautionary approach to safeguard future generations and repositions plastic as a moral issue, not just a policy one.
More than a critique, it’s a call to action—for policymakers, advocates, and especially people of faith—to embrace values of justice, humility, and care for creation. With practical steps and a hopeful vision for a Post-Plastic Age, Gedert offers both a prophetic challenge and a practical road map toward a healthier planet and a more just society.”
“Untangling Plastics by Bob Gedert, one of the country’s most distinguished solid waste and recycling managers, delivers a critically important message to the general public, government and industry officials, and zero waste activists alike. The book lays out the connections between plastic pollution and the direct threats to people and nature. Yet, there can be life on Earth without plastic pollution. Gedert calls for a ‘hard stop, now’ and then puts forward a clear pathway for collective and individual actions to achieve it. This is a must-read for those working for a fair economy and a sound environment.”
“Untangling Plastics is a deeply researched investigation of plastics’ impact on the environment and the health effects on humans. Bob notes more than one hundred actions readers can take to eliminate the harms of plastics, including the advocacy of placing extended producer responsibility on the shoulders of the plastic manufacturers. As Bob notes, the precautionary principle of ‘do no harm’ must be applied to the production of plastics.”
—Heidi Sanborn, executive director, NSAC
“Through vignettes of life on Grandfather’s farm, Bob Gedert reminds us of a time when the ethic of Do No Harm was not just folk wisdom, it was plain common sense: If we are good stewards of the Earth, our only home, the Earth will support us in return. Gedert then reveals, in intricate detail, how the proliferation of plastics and petrochemicals has defiled that reciprocal relationship between humans and the Earth and now threatens our climate, our health, and our very existence.
A memoir, an academic study, and a call to action, Untangling Plastics shows us where we have been, where we are, and where we are going. By presenting a bold plan to counter the momentum of a century of unchecked petroindustrial ambition, Gedert outlines a clear path back to common sense and toward a Post-Plastic Age.”
– Jeremy Drake, Principal, Strategy Zero Waste Solutions; Organizer, MT Plastic Free
Blog
THE IMPACTS OF PLASTICS ON HUMANS
FRACKING IMPACTS ON HUMANS The primary sources of plastic production is the fracking of natural gas or the refinement of oil in the United States.
DO NO HARM
“It is essential to release humanity from the false fixations of yesterday, which seem now to bind it to a rationale of action leading only
Plastics Impacts On Climate Change
Excerpts from Untangling Plastics Most people consider plastic consumer items or packaging as beneficial and generally inert or innocuous—not harmful. Yet the plastic products in
What are plastics?
Excerpts from Chapter 2, Untangling Plastics The first written use of the term plastic seems to have been in the 1630s. According to the Online
The Plastics Coding System
Excerpts from Chapter 1, Untangling Plastics What does the chasing arrow symbol with a number in the center mean on specific plastic packages and products?