Opinion

Plastic’s Quiet Role in Defeating Poverty

6/1/2025|Updated: 6/1/2025

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Commentary

We rarely hear positive things about plastic. Headlines overflow with alarming statistics on microplastic contamination and unsettling images of ocean pollution. Yet plastic has quietly played an essential role in reducing poverty, improving global living standards, and even saving lives. How could toxic, Earth-choking plastics possibly combat poverty around the world?

Vladimir Snurenco

Author

Vladimir Snurenco is a research fellow at the Center for Social Flourishing at the Acton Institute and teaches Economics at Calvin University. In the past he founded and ran a private language school in Chisinau, Moldova. Vladimir taught Economics at Merchiston Castle School in Edinburgh, Scotland. He was a Research Assistant in Sociology at Manchester Metropolitan University working at MYPLACE, a European Commission funded project. Vladimir was born in the Soviet Union and experienced living under socialism as well as transitional economies. He completed his doctorate at the Academy of Economic Studies of Moldova, where he also taught Economics for a number of years. He has an MA in Sociology from the University of Warwick in the UK and a BA in Economics from the Academy of Economic Studies of Moldova.