#breakfreefromplastic Toxic Tours is a community-led storytelling and mapping experience on the impacts of plastic production and disposal on frontline communities. The Tours elevate local voices and ensure that community fights are amplified.

Plastic is made from fossil fuels. Its entire value chain, from extraction to transformation to production to disposal, negatively contributes to climate change and creates a toxic environment that disproportionately harms frontline communities.

All footage has been filmed by community members and local environmental justice groups.

Produced by the #breakfreefromplastic movement

Leading Organizations

Antwerp Shalegas Free
Center for Coalfield Justice
East Yard Communities for Environmental Justice
FracTracker Alliance
Friends of the Earth Scotland
Sierra Club Delta Chapter

Concept by

Delphine Lévi Alvarès
Yvette Arellano
Lisa DePaoli
Estelle Eonnet
Andy Gheorghiu
Carolina Gonzalez
Thomas Goorden
Nalleli Hidalgo
Erica Jackson
Darryl Malek-Wiley
Sarah Moyes

Upstream Videos

Local Stories Produced by

Antwerp Shalegas Free
Avaaz
Center for Coalfield Justice
Center for Environment Justice and Development (CEJAD)
Center for Financial Accountability
Changhua Environmental Protection Union(彰化縣環境保護聯盟)
Chennai Climate Action Group
Citizen of the Earth, Taiwan
Clean Air Council
Climaxi
Dashe Environmental Protection Union(大社環境守護聯盟)
East Yard Communities for Environmental Justice
End Plastic Pollution
Environmental Rights Action / Friends of the Earth Nigeria
Environmental Rights Foundation (ERF)
Environment and Social Development Organization (ESDO)
Good Karma Projects
FM De la Calle
Friends of the Earth Falkirk
River Management Contract
Sierra Club Delta Chapter
Society of Native Nations
South Durban Community Environmental Alliance
Surfrider
Taiwan Ocean and Environmental Sustainability Law Center(漁民權益暨環境永續中心 )
Taiwan Zero Waste Alliance
Vietnam Zero Waste Alliance

Downstream Videos

Local Stories Produced by

Zero Waste Italy
Comitato Collesalviamo l’Ambiente
Comitato Rifiuti Zero Cecina
Coordinamento Rifiuti Zero Livorno
Collectif 3R
Zero Waste France
Amis de la Terre Paris
Microplastic Research Group
CEJAD Kenya
National Waste Pickers Association
Green Africa Youth Organisation
Informal waste sector association, Kpong
End Plastic Pollution – Uganda
Ecoton
Nexus3 Foundation
Stop Waste Trade
Centre for Environmental Justice (CEJ)
Waste Warriors
CENFA
Centre for Financial Accountability (CFA)
Citizen consumer and civic Action Group (CAG)
Valley Improvement Projects
Breathe Free Detroit
Fondation Lenga
Alianza Basura Cero Ecuador


Contributors

Albert Font de Rubinat
Anne Olabarrieta
Arthur Vancayezeele
Bharat Patel
Bongani Mthembu
Carissa Marnce
Diana Sanchez
Diego Mayen
Dilat Ismael Wahaha
Erica Jackson
Erick Huerta
Etolor Peter
Gaëlle Haut
Hui-Chun Wu
Hui-Ting Hsu
Jayendrasinh Ker
Joe Athialy
John Baraka Ekai Erika
Jone Aguirre
Jordi Oliva
Karthik Gunasekar
Katrin Van den Troost
Kintu Humphrey
Lionel Cheylus
Lisa DePaoli
Li-Yi Hsu
Lois Bjornson
Lucie Padovani
Lucile Duclaux
Maria Ballesteros
Mariana Roudaut
Min-Ling Wang
Nkwasibwe Ronald
Nirere Sadrach
Niven Reddy
Norman Philip
Om Prakash Singh
Purushan Eloor
Rémi Sico
Rong-Nan Wei
Sakeer Husain
Sherelee Odayar
Shu-Feng Chang
Simon Witt
Sybil Bullock
Ted Auch
Théo Tostivint
Thomas Goorden
Twesige Geofrey
Ubrei-Joe M. Mariere
Usmangani Husenbhai Sherasiya
Vijay Kumar
Wan-Ling Liu
Wanda Moses
Wen-Hong Jiang
Whitney Amaya
Vivek Sen
Xavier Curto Zafra
Xavier Sun
Yan-Ting Lin
Yuan-He Huang
Yueh-Ying Shih
Yun-Chen Lai
Zhong-Ying Wu


Contributors

Tony
John Chwea
Patricia Kombo
Eldad Ackom
Jacob Johnson Attakpah
Javis Ayine
Olivia Matheson
Johnson Doe
Nirere Sadrach
Lorenzo Ci
Laura Lo Presti
Farhan Nasa
Febiola Rumangkang
Anantika Annissa
Annisa Maharani
Bonusa Nabila Huda
Panca Dewi
Fatema
Mohammad
Afroz
Anbhu, Arul, Thangapandian
Karthikaivel
Elakkiya Karthikeyan
Raja
Vadivel
Selvam
Eshwari
Arumugam
Chinnaponnu
Arun Mohan
John Mataka
Laura Plascencia
Sara Arroyo-Hernandez
Bianca Lopez
KT Andresky
Nick Childers
Clean Air Council
Buckeye Environmental Network
Paúl Ramírez
Luis Ríos
Domenica Enriquez
Andrea Lema
María Elena Molina
Ángel Rogelio Torres
Juan Pablo Aguilar
Danny Galarza
Darling Matamorros
Annelaure Wittmann
Paula Capra

Project Facilitation by
#breakfreefromplastic Comms Hub and Coordination team

Project Supervision by
Carolina Gonzalez

Creative Production by
Estelle Eonnet

Editing by
Sachin Athialy & Amy Chih-Hsin Lee
Assistant Editing by Krithika Pillai

Sound Mixing by Carlos Pineda

Mapping by
Erica Jackson

Website by
Redsgn Digital

Graphics by Mary Gamboa-Kroesen and Trixie Guerrero

UX Consulting by Caroline Quirk

Translation & Caption Coordination by
Chloe Brown and Marianella Nuñez

Translators

Benjamin Alvero
Ching-Wen Cheng
Bettina Gertum
Esperanza Clavell
Hany Osman
Ning Hsuan Cheng
Radhika Jhaveri
Tamara Cabrera
Ting-Fang Chin
Yash Marwah
Yu-Ting Hong
Xavier Sun

Financial Support
Plastic Solutions Fund

Thank you to CIEL for funding the Texas local story

MAPPING DETAILS
This global map was made using a variety of sources, including public agencies, non-profit organizations, and resident testimonies. In some cases, the points and shapes on the map are estimates of impacted areas and facilities, and may contain inaccuracies. While this map focuses on petrochemical plants, specifically those that contribute to plastic manufacturing, it also includes other types of industrial sites that compound injustices in communities impacted by the plastic industry.

ADDITIONAL SOURCES
Mapping done by FracTracker Alliance with help from:

Environmental Rights Action/Friends of the Earth Nigeria

Centre for Environment Justice and Development (CEJAD)

South Durban Community Environmental Alliance

Environment and Social Development Organization (ESDO)

Centre for Financial Accountability

East Yard Communities for Environmental Justice

Center for Coalfield Justice

Friends of the Earth Scotland

Antwerp Shalegas Free

Society of Native Nations

FM De la Calle

Changhua Environmental Protection Union(彰化縣環境保護聯盟)

Taiwan Ocean and Environmental Sustainability Law Center(漁民權益暨環境永續中心

Dashe Environmental Protection Union(大社環境守護聯盟)

Taiwan Zero Waste Alliance // Environmental Rights Foundation, ERF

Sierra Club Louisiana

Additional Data Sources include:

Lokichar to Lamu Crude Oil Pipeline: Lamu Crude Oil Pipeline Environmental and Social Impact Assessment Study (August 2019), map by Golder, digitized by FracTracker Alliance in December, 2021

Trans Ramos Pipeline: Spill Response and Prevention (2020), The Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria, digitized by FracTracker Alliance in January, 2022

Oil, gas, and petrochemical plants along the Mississippi River in Louisiana, combined and mapped by FracTracker Alliance in December 2021 from various data sources, including:

“Environmental Integrity Project. (2021, May 3). Emission Increase Database and Pipelines Inventory. Retrieved from https://environmentalintegrity.org/oil-gas-infrastructure-emissions

Oil Refineries: Oil Refineries for the Homeland Infrastructure Foundation-Level (HIFLD) Database (https://gii.dhs.gov/HIFLD), updated October 6, 2020

Ethylene Crackers: United States Energy Information Administration, https://www.eia.gov/maps/layer_info-m.php, updated January 13, 2020

Pennsylvania unconventional wells: Data from the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, updated November 1, 2021

Pennsylvania coal mines: Digitized Mined Areas in Pennsylvania from PASDA: https://www.pasda.psu.edu/uci/DataSummary.aspx?dataset=257, updated November 19, 2021

Mariner East Pipeline: Data from the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, mapped by FracTracker Alliance in November 2016

Falcon Pipeline: Shell Pipeline Company/AECOM, mapped by FracTracker Alliance in November 2017

Revolution Pipeline: Mapped by FracTracker Alliance in September 2018 based on data from Energy Transfer and other online sources

#breakfreefromplastic (BFFP) is a global movement envisioning a future free from plastic pollution. Since its launch in 2016, more than 2,000 organizations and 11,000 individual supporters from across the world have joined the movement to demand massive reductions in single-use plastics and push for lasting solutions to the plastic pollution crisis. BFFP member organizations and individuals share the shared values of environmental protection and social justice and work together through a holistic approach to bring about systemic change. This means tackling plastic pollution across the whole plastics value chain—from extraction to disposal—focusing on prevention rather than cure and providing effective solutions.

The #breakfreefromplastic movement is made up of thousands of individuals and organizations across the globe. No individual, group, or organisation can vouch for, nor is responsible for, content produced by the movement. For issues arising from individual or organization campaigns, we recommend you contact that individual or community group.

PRESS ENQUIRIES

To request one-on-one guided tours, please email us at news@breakfreefromplastic.org