Reaching the Post-Plastic Age for True Sustainability
Untangling Plastics: The Missing Link in Mitigating Climate Change reveals a critical but widely overlooked truth: Plastic is not just a pollution problem. It is a climate problem, a public health problem, and a systems problem hiding in plain sight.
Written for policymakers, sustainability leaders, educators, and climate-focused readers, this book explains how plastics derived from fossil fuels drive greenhouse gas emissions at every stage of their life cycle, from extraction and production to disposal. It also examines how plastic pollution impacts human health, ecosystems, and frontline communities worldwide.
Unlike many climate change books that focus solely on energy or high-level policy, Untangling Plastics connects the dots between plastics, climate disruption, and real-world consequences. It goes beyond theory to highlight practical actions by individuals, institutions, and governments that can meaningfully reduce plastic dependence and climate risk.
Clear, accessible, and grounded in evidence, Untangling Plastics equips readers with the knowledge needed to understand why the elimination of plastics must be part of any serious climate solution and what can be done to address the problem now.
Gedert, Bob: -
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.
