Dr. Elsa Devienne, '"Paper or Plastic?": The Forgotten Movement to Ban Polystyrene in the US and the (Lost) Battle of Perception (1980s to today)'

“What happened? At one point, we were really close to banning polystyrene. What happened?”

In this episode, we’re joined by Dr Elsa Devienne (Assistant Professor, School of Humanities and Social Sciences, Northumbria University), a scholar of the twentieth-century United States with expertise in environmental history, urban history, the history of the body and, more recently, discard studies and the history of waste.

Dr Devienne spoke to us about her current book project on the War on Plastics. She presented part of this research in the seminar paper: '"Paper or Plastic?" The Forgotten Movement to Ban Polystyrene in the US and the (Lost) Battle of Perception (1980s to today).’

She argues that modern society has largely forgotten a significant period of activism when citizens successfully pushed for bans on polystyrene due to its links to the solid waste crisis, toxicity, and ozone depletion.

Devienne identifies ‘plastic denialism’ as a primary reason these early victories failed to last.

“People would not have given up on this fight if it weren't for the fact that there were loads of competing stories, loads of confusion around polystyrene and whether it was recyclable and in what capacity, and what it was: whether or not it was a better or worse material for certain uses.”

Her research reminds us that the current fight against plastic pollution is not a new phenomenon but rather a protracted struggle against industry tactics that have been refined over decades to maintain the dominance of fossil-fuel-based products.

"Those tactics that the plastic industry is deploying now, they've been refining them since the 80s and 90s.”

Referenced in Discussion:

[05:00] On Devienne's previous work

Elsa Devienne, ⁠Sand Rush: The Revival of the Beach in Twentieth-Century Los Angeles. (originally published in French, Sorbonne Editions, 2020; Oxford University Press, 2024)

[23:55] Recommended reading on the intersection of Business and the Environment

See works by Adam Rome, Professor of Environment and Sustainability (University of Buffalo), including:

“Beyond Compliance: The Origins of Corporate Interest in Sustainability,” Enterprise & Society (2021; 22(2): 409-437.)

Berghoff, H. and Adam R., eds. Green Capitalism?: Business and the Environment in the Twentieth Century (University of Pennsylvania Press, 2017)

[31:55] Talking to author John Javna

John Javna, ‘50 Simple Things You Can Do to Save the Earth,’ (EarthWorks Press: Berkeley, California, 1989)

[34:26] “That article is an example of what I call ‘plastic denialism” (says Devienne). See:

Damian Carrington, “‘A bombshell’: doubt cast on discovery of microplastics throughout human body” (Wed 14 Jan 2026)

Co-hosts:

Shea Hendry — History PhD Candidate, Hughes Hall

Shea’s research examines the children of Loyalist refugees who embodied both American citizenship and British subjecthood—concurrently and consecutively—throughout the Early National period.

Megan Renoir — History PhD Candidate, Homerton College

Megan’s research examines the history of U.S. land institutions, nineteenth- and twentieth-century federal Indian policy, and violence against the NCRNT. Her work expands our understanding of the relationships between federalism, Western property institutions, and intractable land conflicts.

Production by Daisy Semmler — History PhD Candidate, Jesus College, 2026; US History MPhil, Fitzwilliam College, 2025