Plastic killer: The defense focuses on the proof of the recyclability of plastic. Will he be acquitted?

The trial judge for the plastic sector worker, in the courtroom, before the popular jury who looked at me with contempt, already hypothesising the solution of the case through an exemplary sentence, asked me to tell how the facts had gone.

“Mr. Judge” – said the worker – “I am 54 years old and I started 34 years ago working in a factory near home that printed polypropylene food trays “, the word polypropylene raised from the bench of the jury excited voices of disappointment and of horror . “Continue” the judge urged him.

“After school I wanted to find a job, I know, I had a girlfriend named Elisabetta, who already worked in this factory and knew they were looking for a production worker. I presented myself full of good hopes and a desire to work. 

I knew nothing about plastic and polypropylene , machines and fatigue during work nights, but I wanted to marry Elisabetta and take a rented cottage, so I needed to work “

The judge intervened grimly: “Imputed! come to the point “. 

“Of course Mr. Judge, I was telling you that they hired me and I started working in this factory that produced rigid packs for cheeses, desserts and other foods for our tables. 

They were beautiful years, we got married, we had a wonderful daughter, Paola, and we even bought a small car, so we could go on a Sunday trip, but when I wasn’t on duty ”.

“In the meantime, my wife has been home from work because our daughter, having a health problem, had to be followed.”

The people’s lawyer stood up saying: “Mr. Judge, I oppose you, we are not here to talk about the honeyed family situations , but we are here to decide if the accused has operated in these years as a serial polluter”.

The judge, looking through his glasses, muttered: “Accepted objection”. “Defendant” – said the judge – “Follow the facts”. 

“Excuse me, Mr. Judge. My work continued in this factory with many sacrifices because, with the salary of a worker , in recent years, it was not easy to make a dignified life. But at least I, Mr. Judge, had a job. “ 

“Two years ago in the factory people began to talk about a crisis , the polypropylene packaging of food was put into question on the market , the plastic became the enemy number 1 for the people , the neighbors saw me pass, when I finished the shift work and whispered: it’s him! He’s the one who pollutes with plastic. “

“I didn’t pay any attention to you, Mr. Judge, because my job was important for my family and so I tolerated being identified with a drug dealer, an assassin or an environmental rapist .” 

The people’s lawyer intervened diligently: “but then, you, defendant, did nothing in all these years to correct your wicked behavior ?” 

The poor worker did not understand the question well and wondered how to respond to the lawyer, who in the meantime was getting hot because he hesitated and took time. 

“Come, defendant, answer!” The judge ruled. 

“You see, Mr. Judge, I have been concerned all my life to do my job well, just as the factory owner asked me, not to be late, and not to leave the factory immediately after the end of my shift, because , you know, I stopped to lend a hand to the other workers who went to work. 

I always thought about the salary I earned, because it was used by our family. 

Only one day, Mr. Judge, I started to not really understand what was going on as my daughter, at the table, asked me: “Dad, at school they tell me that you are a serial polluter, a criminal, you work plastic. I cried in class, I didn’t know what to say ”. 

“He had to think about it first,” cried a middle-aged gentleman from the jury bench. 

“Silence!” The judge intervened. 

“So, defendant” – said the judge – “do you confirm that you have produced millions, if not billions of trays in .. er .. yeah here it is .. polypropylene, which ended up in our seas? 

Do you confirm that the products you printed turned into microplastics over time and were then ingested by fish? 

Does it confirm that with its irresponsible and criminal behavior it has compromised the food chain ? 

Do you confirm that the cases of diseases and deaths among the population, which occurred in recent years due to the ingestion of microplastics present in water and food , coming from its polypropylene trays, are the cause of its conduct? 

Do you confirm that fraud has also continued in recent years when clear scientific evidence has demonstrated the causal link between the plastic present in the seas and rivers and the damage to health? 

Do you confirm that you have committed an attack on public health ? 

Do you confirm that you have created incalculable damage to the fish fauna ? “ 

The worker was sweating profusely and did not understand all that long speech by the judge , so he turned to his lawyer to ask what he should answer. 

The lawyer got up on his feet and with insecurity, but determined, he said: ” Mr. Judge, Gentlemen of the Court , the present defendant here, a plastic worker , cannot have the responsibilities that you attribute to him, he cannot have committed so criminal actions , he cannot be guilty of such serious crimes, he cannot be considered a serial polluter, a killer of humanity , he cannot have undertaken criminal conduct with plastic “ 

After a theatrical pause, in which he checked that the whole popular jury was watching him attentively, he ruled: “all this is not a crime because the plastic is recyclable and therefore is not to be considered a danger to the population and the fauna”. 

At that point cries of protest rose from the public and from the popular jury that the Judge could barely control. 

The lawyer, at that point, pointed his finger at the popular jury, shouting over the screams of the crowd and said: ” You are the defendants who should sit in this chair, it is you who scatter the plastic after using it, in the environment , it is you who do not bother to pick it up and recycle it , it is you who despise recycling because it is synonymous with dirt , it is you who go to the sea and complain about the waste on the beach and then turn off the cigarette butts in the sand and leave them there , it is you who buy plastic bottles instead of drinking tap water … you are … “ 

At this point the Judge intervened and, frantically beating the hammer on the bench , as if he were a blacksmith bending a red-hot iron and shouted: ” police, arrest the lawyer for contempt of court and popular jury”. 

The poor plastic worker looked on without understanding, the cuffs on his wrists started to hurt him and after trying several times, in the crowd, a friendly or just compassionate look, he resigned himself to his destiny as an environmental killer. 

Will he be acquitted? 

Automatic translation. We apologize for any inaccuracies. Original article in Italian.