In recent decades, the societal image of chemistry has changed significantly. Where once it was viewed as an innovative discipline resulting in modern conveniences and medical breakthroughs, it is now perceived by many as the main cause of the destruction of the planet. A striking example is the Pacific Gyre Garbage Patch—a 23-million-square-kilometre vortex of marine debris in the central North Pacific Ocean. It is formed in large measure from everyday plastic objects, used and then discarded into the environment. The properties that make plastic objects handy to use also cause them to have a very persistent life cycle. The first indications of the dangers their wastes pose to the environment have appeared, and there are major deficiencies in our knowledge about the behaviour of plastics in nature with regard to chemical reactivity, structure and concentrations. This highlights the need for information that analytical chemistry can provide—both qualitative and quantitative—about the nature, identity and amount of elements and molecules in our environment. A wide range of analytical methods and instruments are available for obtaining the information required for different levels of decision making. However, analytical chemistry itself is constantly changing, and new smart materials and instrumental approaches are playing a significant role in the development of new analytical procedures that can provide the requisite chemical information with sufficient accuracy and precision. The principles of green chemistry stipulate that the analysis process must be safe, economical and generate the least amount of waste. This approach is modernising analytical chemistry from the standpoint of social responsibility.