Producers wield power over plastic pollution

Authors: Maria Maggiore, Manuel Rico and Maxence Peigné

Influential producer responsibility groups, often run by big industry names, help shape local waste collection and recycling efforts across Europe. But criticism of the schemes is growing louder. Housed in the same Parisian building as the ritzy retail store Galerie Lafayette and opposite an opera house, it is an unlikely setting for a non-profit firm dealing with everyday waste. Yet Citeo is one of Europe’s most powerful producer responsibility organisations or PROs, bodies in charge of planning the end-of-life of packaging materials, such as plastic waste. Defined by European and national laws, PROs are often not-for-profit, but are controlled by billion-euro producers. Coca-Cola, Unilever and Nestlé are among Citeo’s shareholders.