Australia is one of the highest users of plastic per person in the world, yet the issue is still widely seen as an environmental problem happening “out there.”

The Plastic Country is an investigative journey following filmmaker Kal Glanznig as he travels across Australia to uncover the true scale of the plastic crisis on our own shores.

Kal Glanznig is a former water polo athlete turned ocean advocate who grew up surfing the beaches of Cronulla. Health-conscious and deeply curious, he becomes increasingly concerned by emerging research into the human health impacts of plastic. But it’s not until he joins a clean-up in East Arnhem Land, where Dhimurru Rangers pull ghost nets and plastic packaging from sacred shores - that his perspective is shattered.

Realising that Australia is now one of the world’s largest producers of plastic waste per person, Kal begins to question what this means not just for our environment, but for our bodies.

What follows is a journey across the country, from remote coastlines to wildlife hospitals and Parliament House, uncovering how plastic pollution is infiltrating ecosystems, politics, and human health.

The Plastic Country is both a warning and a rallying cry - revealing solutions already underway and showing how everyone can drive the change needed to turn the tide on plastics for good.

The Plastic Country aims to shift plastic pollution from a distant environmental issue to an immediate human health and national policy priority. By revealing the scale of exposure and connecting audiences personally to the issue, the film aims to build public demand for stronger action across Australia. This includes reducing plastic production, accelerating the transition to reuse and better packaging design, and investing in upstream solutions that prevent waste before it enters our environment.