Verwirren, verzögern, verhindern: Das falsche Spiel großer Konzerne in der globalen Plastikkrise

The document exposes how the plastic industry uses a 'playbook' of confusion, delay, and prevention to thwart progressive laws. It argues that voluntary commitments by major corporations are largely 'lip service' and that the industry actively lobbies against mandatory collection and reuse systems while promoting 'false solutions' like chemical recycling.

• The plastic industry employs a systematic strategy to block effective legislation through three main tactics: confusing the public, delaying political processes, and preventing laws from being enacted. This includes using 'pseudo-environmental organisations' to shift blame to consumers and promoting 'false solutions' such as beach clean-ups and chemical recycling to distract from the need for mandatory regulations.
• Voluntary commitments by the ten largest plastic polluters are characterized as largely ineffective and lacking transparency. The report notes that companies often fail to meet their own targets; for example, Coca-Cola set a goal in 1990 for bottles to contain 25% recycled PET (rPET), but three decades later, they still only contain 10%.
• There is a significant overlap between companies that join voluntary plastic initiatives and those that belong to industry lobby groups actively working to prevent ambitious legislation. For instance, companies operating in the EU are found to be working through networks to weaken and delay the implementation of the EU Single-Use Plastics (SUP) Directive.
• The industry has exploited the COVID-19 pandemic to push for the rollback of environmental laws, using hygiene concerns related to personal protective equipment (PPE) to advocate for the continued use of single-use plastics in other areas and to challenge deposit systems.
• Case studies reveal regional disparities in corporate behavior; for example, Coca-Cola supports certain regulations in the EU but lobbies against similar regulations in Africa, China, and the USA. In Kenya, the company is specifically accused of using tactics to prevent the introduction of a deposit system.

APA

Tangpuori, A. D., Harding-Rolls, G., Urbancic, N., & Zallio, X. P. B. (2020). Verwirren, verzögern, verhindern: Das falsche Spiel großer Konzerne in der globalen Plastikkrise. Changing Markets Foundation. https://changingmarkets.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/TalkingTrash-German-ExecSum.pdf

Chicago

Tangpuori, Alice Delemare, George Harding-Rolls, Nusa Urbancic, and Ximena Purita Banegas Zallio. Verwirren, verzögern, verhindern: Das falsche Spiel großer Konzerne in der globalen Plastikkrise. Changing Markets Foundation, 2020. https://changingmarkets.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/TalkingTrash-German-ExecSum.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=Verwirren, verzögern, verhindern: Das falsche Spiel großer Konzerne in der globalen Plastikkrise |publisher=Changing Markets Foundation |date=September 2020 |url=https://changingmarkets.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/TalkingTrash-German-ExecSum.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{tangpuori2020verwirren, author = {Tangpuori, Alice Delemare and Harding-Rolls, George and Urbancic, Nusa and Zallio, Ximena Purita Banegas}, title = {{Verwirren, verzögern, verhindern: Das falsche Spiel großer Konzerne in der globalen Plastikkrise}}, institution = {Changing Markets Foundation}, year = {2020}, month = sep, url = {https://changingmarkets.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/TalkingTrash-German-ExecSum.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }