Hablan Basura: El Manual Corporativo de Soluciones Falsas a la Crisis del Plástico

The report argues that the plastic industry employs a 'corporate playbook' of delaying, distracting, and derailing progressive legislation to protect profits and maintain a linear economy. It analyzes the voluntary commitments of ten major polluters, including Coca-Cola, Nestlé, and PepsiCo, finding them largely non-binding and lacking transparency. The document details how industry groups use 'greenwashing' tactics—such as promoting chemical recycling and bioplastics—to divert attention from the need for mandatory collection systems like Deposit Return Schemes (DRS). Case studies across 15 countries, including the US, EU, China, and Kenya, illustrate how corporations lobby against bans on single-use plastics and shift responsibility to consumers. The report concludes that voluntary initiatives have failed and calls for mandatory legislation, including high collection targets, virgin plastic taxes, and a global treaty on plastic pollution.

• The plastic industry uses three primary tactics to resist regulation: 'delay' (lobbying to postpone laws), 'distract' (shifting blame to consumers and promoting superficial solutions), and 'derail' (actively blocking or weakening bills before they are passed).
• Voluntary commitments from the world's largest plastic polluters are often non-binding, lack independent verification, and are frequently unmet; for example, Coca-Cola's 1990 goal of 25% rPET in bottles remained at 10% three decades later.
• Chemical recycling is characterized as a 'false solution' that is technically challenging, economically unviable, and often results in plastic being converted into fuel and burned, contributing to greenhouse gas emissions.
• Deposit Return Schemes (DRS) are identified as the most effective method for achieving high collection rates (often over 90%) and providing clean material for high-quality recycling, yet they are systematically opposed by industry lobbies.
• In the United States, the industry has successfully shifted the burden of waste management to consumers and municipalities through organizations like Keep America Beautiful, while fighting plastic bag bans and bottle bills.
• The European Union's Single-Use Plastics (SUP) Directive faced intense industry lobbying to delay targets, such as pushing the 90% collection target for bottles from 2025 to 2029.

APA

Tangpuori, A. D., Harding-Rolls, G., Urbancic, N., & Zallio, X. P. B. (2020). Hablan Basura: El Manual Corporativo de Soluciones Falsas a la Crisis del Plástico. Changing Markets Foundation. https://changingmarkets.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/TALKING-TRASH-SPANISH-FINAL.pdf

Chicago

Tangpuori, Alice Delemare, George Harding-Rolls, Nusa Urbancic, and Ximena Purita Banegas Zallio. Hablan Basura: El Manual Corporativo de Soluciones Falsas a la Crisis del Plástico. Changing Markets Foundation, 2020. https://changingmarkets.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/TALKING-TRASH-SPANISH-FINAL.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Tangpuori |first1=Alice Delemare |last2=Harding-Rolls |first2=George |last3=Urbancic |first3=Nusa |last4=Zallio |first4=Ximena Purita Banegas |title=Hablan Basura: El Manual Corporativo de Soluciones Falsas a la Crisis del Plástico |publisher=Changing Markets Foundation |date=September 2020 |url=https://changingmarkets.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/TALKING-TRASH-SPANISH-FINAL.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{tangpuori2020hablan, author = {Tangpuori, Alice Delemare and Harding-Rolls, George and Urbancic, Nusa and Zallio, Ximena Purita Banegas}, title = {{Hablan Basura: El Manual Corporativo de Soluciones Falsas a la Crisis del Plástico}}, institution = {Changing Markets Foundation}, year = {2020}, month = sep, url = {https://changingmarkets.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/TALKING-TRASH-SPANISH-FINAL.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }