The Transnational Governance of Plastics

This paper by the joint research project REPLAWA analyzes actors, structures, and processes of the transnational Governance of Plastics.

The authors work out the complexity of the problems in connection with plastics and its transnational governance, present the actors and contexts of current governance efforts and examine the various processes of current cooperation and conflicts.

The process of governing plastics assembles varied groups of actors, states, business, and civil society, each of them with different, partially contrary interests and moral points of view. At the same time, plastics are embedded in a multitude of contexts and structures: Political, legal, organizational, economic and technological contexts bring forward a wide array of not only environmentally framed questions, ranging from pollution to renewable materials and overconsumption. Therefore, chances for cooperation, but also conflict or contestation multiply.

The paper "The Transnational Governance of Plastics - Actors, Structures and Processes" [pdf, 0.5 MB] is available for download in English.