Re: @W.S.Gossett on "Gas"
Quite. (Lots more key substances than just plastic, too, used by industry in all sorts of unexpected ways and places.)
An amusing way to puncture the sanctimony of a vegan ranting about the evils of the oil/gas industry "capitalists!", is to point out that about half* of everything they eat is oil/gas.
.
* I forget the exact number. Can anyone remember?