Chapter 3Tactics in the corporate playbook

Delay, distract, and derail. With these three tactics, the industry has pushed back against progressive legislation to tackle the plastics crisis across the world and maintain the status quo for as long as possible.

Delaying tactics range from voluntary commitments to convince governments regulation is not necessary, lobbying for legislative delays, and withholding or misrepresenting data to mask the seriousness of the problem. Distraction tactics involve pushing false solutions, such as chemical recycling or products made from marine plastic, shifting the blame onto the consumer, funding studies engineered to support the industry’s point of view, and co-opting or funding environmental groups to act as mouthpieces. Tactics to derail legislation include challenging the legality of legislative action, pushes to pre-empt the banning of single-use items, as well as direct and indirect lobbying to undermine or weaken legislation.