INEOS director criticises “pathetic” BBC plastic documentary

An INEOS director has criticised a BBC documentary for taking a simplistic view on plastic waste.

Speaking to the BBC’s Today Programme, Tom Crotty claimed that TV chef Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall’s campaign against plastic on Scottish beaches was “pushing an agenda”, having spent time with him ahead of the documentary’s release.

Fearnley-Whittingstall accused INEOS’ Grangemouth plant of adding to plastic waste on local beaches, which INEOS denies.

Crotty said: “One of the facts, he had asked, is we have analysed the stuff that gets washed up on beaches around Scotland and the material is not ours. It comes from deep ocean washing up.”

“It’s unfortunate because plastic does so much good in the world. Taking simplistic views that says plastic equals bad is pretty pathetic really.”

“What you need to do is say plastic waste is bad, how do we stop that? We want waste plastic back because we think we can do good things with it. It’s not waste, it’s valuable raw material.”

Crotty also had to defend INEOS’ investment in Saudi Arabia.

He said: “We believe there is a process of change going on in Saudi Arabia, that now is a good time for us to get involved because we think investment is what will lead to fuelling that process of change and modernisation in Saudi Arabia.”