Policy as a Catalyst: Promoting Company Reflexivity in the Plastics Industry
A study on EU efforts to reduce marine pollution investigated how regulation can foster reflexive thinking and behavior within companies.
The EU introduced its Single-Use Plastic Directive (SUPD) in 2019 to target plastic pollution on EU beaches. Starting on July 3, 2021, SUPD banned the placement of certain single-use plastics in EU member states’ markets. This directive targeted upstream producers, downstream consumers, and waste managers. The regulation’s objective is to prevent and reduce the impact of plastic on the environment and human health. Additionally, EU lawmakers seek to promote a circular plastic economy.
You can also read: How to Talk About Plastics With Consumers.
Reflexivity and Flexibility During Regulatory Changes
Reflexive environmental law (REL) is a socio-legal theory that considers how the design of laws influences reflexive decision-making. REL literature provides insights into how companies themselves react to changes. Regulations like the SUPD can drive this reflexivity to achieve changes within the global plastics economy. Through lessons learned, accountability, and responsiveness, companies can benefit from effective stakeholder decisions regarding new regulations. Companies can avoid market lock-ins and engage in transformative changes by employing conscious decision-making. Ideally, implementing the ideas found in REL promotes company autonomy during regulatory changes. Additionally, REL encourages companies to make decisions based on accountability and responsiveness to consumer demands. Lastly, REL calls for policymakers to build adjustability into regulatory instruments. Company reflexivity requires both active learning and a conscious, action-oriented response.
Researchers linked autonomy, accountability, responsiveness, and adjustability, which REL called for, to SUPD’s requirements. Figure courtesy of Reducing the tide of single-use plastic pollution: how the EU’s Single-Use Plastic Directive drives (and fails to drive) private company reflexivity.
Plotting Company Reflexivity in the Plastic Industry
The response of companies to regulations is not always “Positive”. Negative responses, where companies circumvented regulatory requirements or adopted less-circular practices, occurred following SUPD. By not surpassing basic compliance, these companies did not show the “recognition and rethinking” facet of REL. In an investigation of plastic companies’ response to SUPD, researchers categorized the stages of company reflexivity and ranked company responses:
- Single-loop: response fits into existing patterns and schemes, such as regulations that do not conflict with existing business practices.
- Double-loop: existing assumptions, norms, or values guide objectives, goals, or policy. In this response, there is no conscious reflection on the underlying assumptions, norms, or values themselves.
- Triple-loop: response accounts for broader social goals, such as environmental justice, and incorporates them into decision making.
Company Responses to each SUPD Instrument
| Instrument | Responses | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Negative | Single-loop adaptive | Double-loop reflexive | Triple-loop reflexive | |
| Labelling | Product characteristics adjusted (with no/low SUP reduction) to circumvent compliance. | SUP label added to products. | – | – |
| Bans | Marketing labels or product characteristics adjusted (with no/low SUP reduction) to circumvent compliance. | Alternative materials used for the same product. Production discontinued. | Alternative materials used/explored for the same product through new knowledge bases. | – |
| EPR | – | EPR tax paid in accordance with Waste Framework Directive (WFD). | – | – |
| Caps and lids | – | Designs for caps and lids altered through new knowledge base. | Designs for caps and lids altered through new knowledge base. Caps and lids removed. Consumers educated about regulatory requirements. | – |
| Recycled content | – | Recycled plastics (PET) used in SUP bottle production. | SUP bottle collection and recycling systems explored through new knowledge base. New business models explored to reduce SUP bottles, e.g. bulk supply. Industry goal for recycled content in SUP bottles adjusted to 100%. | – |
| Collection | – | – | ||
| Reuse | Existing reuse strategy discontinued due to exclusion from regulatory scope. | Portfolio expanded to include reuse items. | New business models explored to supply core product differently (e.g. bulk supply). | New decision-making policy explored to increase approval of riskier but long-term sustainability innovations. |
Researchers interviewed companies in the plastic industry about their response to SUPD, then ranked their positivity according to REL. Table courtesy of Reducing the tide of single-use plastic pollution: how the EU’s Single-Use Plastic Directive drives (and fails to drive) private company reflexivity.
Drivers Beyond the SUPD
This study found various techniques for adapting to the SUPD. Actions such as engaging third parties to ensure compliance resulted in mutual learning between companies (accountability and responsiveness). The study found, out of the three REL pillars, adjustability was the least prominent driver in the SUPD. Still, companies scheduling future adjustments for recycled content percentages showed a reflexive response where companies anticipated regulatory changes.
By analyzing company responses, researchers found that the SUPD’s “Reuse” instrument had the highest drive on company reflexivity. The study found that reflexive drivers in law can enhance the reflexive response of companies. By understanding these dynamics, lawmakers can design more effective regulations to encourage a circular plastic economy.