Pains me to do it, as I'm not a gamer, but it's like in a video game when you get a weapon or item your character is not skilled enough to wield. Try using it and it won't work as well as something simpler. You need to level up, ostensibly building your fundamental skills up to the point where you can make use of it.
Same is true here: plastic is an artifact of an advanced civilization and it's being dropped into a developing one that simply doesn't have the infra or the cultural values of proper waste management needed to handle the problem.
Solution: we keep using plastic, they stop and focus on things that work better in their situation, using local materials that fit their lifecycle well into the mindset of the people.