Welcome to the Parada podcast, a podcast that takes 10 minutes to get you smarter on the collision of tech, business, and politics.

Brought to you by Facebook. Filling in for Dan Primack, I'm Kim Hart. On today's show, concern about facial recognition software, and Chinese telecom equipment maker

Huawei prepared to take a big revenue hit.

But first, a look at the planet's growing plastic problem.

Plastics have become a fundamental part of our consumption habits, and that demand is projected

to only increase.

But just 9% of plastics were recycled in the US in 2015, globally that number is about 20%.

Some countries and companies are trying to reduce single-use plastics like straws and

bags.

But at the same time, the oil industry is looking to ramp up production of petrochemicals,

the building blocks of plastics, while also pushing recycling programs.

In 15 seconds, we'll go deeper on this with Axios journalist Alison Snyder and Amy

Harder.

But first, this.

If you're going to see ads, you probably want to see ads that feel relevant to you.

Personalized advertising is why so much of the internet is free. To learn more, visit Facebook.com slash about slash ads.

Joining us in the studio is Allison Snyder, managing editor here at Axios and Amy Harder, Axis columnist

covering energy. They looked at the global plastics crisis as part of an Axios Deep Die report this

past weekend. So let's level set here. We've been using plastics for everything from toys to

packaging to construction for decades. Why the sudden wave of attention to this issue right now?

There's two main reasons that experts tell me this issue has sort of catapulted to the front burner.

The first one is social media.

...