Two scavengers collect plastics in the Citarum river in Bandung, West Java on March 28, 2023. (Photo by Timur Matahari/AFP Photo)

A woman uses a plastic bad to protect her head amid snowfall in Beijing, China on December 14, 2023. (Photo by Tingshu Wang/Reuters)

Simon Monk’s 'Secret Identity' is an ongoing series of paintings, each representing a plastic figurine of a famous superhero contained in a clear plastic bag. Bagged and hung on a hook these superheroes become recently purchased objects robbed of the enormous power they wield.

A child plays with a plastic badminton racket in the old quarters of Delhi, India, March 3, 2016. (Photo by Anindito Mukherjee/Reuters)

A ballet dancer poses in a giant plastic bubble as she entertains Christmas shoppers in Melbourne on December 13, 2020. (Photo by William West/AFP Photo)

An Afghan boy carrying empty plastic cans, walks along a street in Kabul on December 21, 2023. (Photo by Wakil Kohsar/AFP Photo)

Black Nazarene devotees clamber on top of one another to to touch the cross on January 9, 2015 in Manila, Philippines. The Feast of the Black Nazarene culminates in a day long procession on January 9 as barefoot devotees march to see and touch the image of the Black Nazarene. The Black Nazarene is a dark wood sculpture of Jesus brought to the Philippines in 1606 from Spain and considered miraculous by Filipino devotees. The event falls a week ahead of the visit of Pope Francis who will travel to Leyte and Manila during his visit to the Philippines from January 15–19. The visit is expected to attract crowds in the millions as Filipino Catholics flock to catch a glimpse of the leader of the Catholic Church. The Philippines is the only Catholic majority nation in Asia with around 90 percent of the population professing the faith. (Photo by Dondi Tawatao/Getty Images)

A boy reaches for a ball on a creek clogged with plastic waste on April 15, 2023 in Caloocan, Metro Manila, Philippines. (Photo by Ezra Acayan/Getty Images)