June 25 (UPI) -- As global concern over plastic pollution intensifies, a growing share of the problem is tied not to where waste is discarded, but where it begins -- with the United States emerging as a major exporter of the raw materials that fuel plastic production in China and beyond. At the center of that shift is Texas, now a premier hub for petrochemical exports, shipping billions of dollars' worth of ethane and plastic resins across the Pacific each year. In 2025 alone, U.S. plastics