Business
‘The Fraud of Advanced Recycling’
Big Oil and the plastics industry’s public claims about ‘advanced recycling’ are undermined by their own words and experts
13 May 2025
Main image: Greenpeace activists paint Geneva streets black to call out Big Oil’s chokehold on Global Plastic Treaty talks © Samuel Schalch / Greenpeace
At least 234 fossil fuel and chemical industry lobbyists have registered to participate in the fifth and final scheduled session of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC-5.2) of the Plastics Treaty negotiations.
This is a new high compared with the 221 identified by CIEL at INC-5.
The strong presence of lobbyists at this stage of the negotiations raises concerns about corporate influence at a pivotal moment – when negotiators are expected to finalise the treaty text and lay the groundwork for its adoption.
The negotiations are intended to provide a treaty truly capable of ending plastic pollution.
The analysis was conducted by the Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL), and supported by the International Indigenous Peoples’ Forum on Plastics (IIPFP), the International Pollutants Elimination Network (IPEN), the Break Free From Plastic movement, the Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives (GAIA), Greenpeace, the Stop Tobacco Pollution Alliance (STPA), the International Alliance of Waste Pickers (IAWP) and Public Services International (PSI).
It is based on the United Nations Environment Programme’s (UNEP) provisional list of INC-5.2 participants.
The analysis reveals that fossil fuel and chemical industry lobbyists outnumber the combined diplomatic delegations of all 27 European Union nations and the EU combined (233).
Major fossil fuel and chemical companies and their lobbyists are particularly well represented, with Dow and the American Chemistry Council each bringing seven lobbyists, while ExxonMobil has brought six.
19 fossil fuel and chemical lobbyists have secured places in the national delegations of Egypt (6), Kazakhstan (4), China (3), Iran (3), Chile (2) and the Dominican Republic (1).
Chemical and fossil fuel industry lobbyists outnumber the Scientists’ Coalition for an Effective Plastic Treaty (60) by nearly four to one, and the International Indigenous Peoples’ Forum on Plastics (36) by nearly seven to one.
‘The fact that fossil fuel lobbyists outnumber scientists at the Global Plastics Treaty talks by four to one is a scandal. Corporate interests are trying to silence scientific consensus. We know that plastics pose a clear and potent threat to human health and our planet, and we owe it to future generations to secure a Treaty that turns the tide on plastic production. Polluters cannot be allowed to derail the Talks. They don’t get to write a Treaty that serves their vested interests.’
RUDY SCHULKIND
Political campaigner with Greenpeace UK
CIEL’s estimate is likely to be conservative, as the methodology relies on delegates to the talks disclosing their own connections to fossil fuel or chemical industry interests, and some lobbyists may choose to obscure that link.
The figure does not include lobbyists from adjacent sectors, including fast-moving consumer goods and waste management sectors, all of whom have vested interests in weakening the treaty’s ambition.
‘We have decades of evidence showing the fossil fuel and chemical industries’ playbook: deny, distract, derail. Fossil fuel companies are central to plastic production, as over 99 percent of plastics are derived from chemicals sourced from fossil fuels. Many of these companies are facing legal scrutiny over their role in the climate crisis.
‘After decades of obstruction in the climate negotiations, why would anyone think that they would suddenly show up in good faith in the Plastics Treaty talks? Involving the very corporations that profit from harm in shaping the path forward guarantees one thing: a treaty that protects their bottom line, not the public or the planet.’
XIMENA BANEGAS
CIEL Global Plastics and Petrochemicals campaigner
While the analysis captures the number of participants registered to attend the negotiations, it’s only the tip of the iceberg.
Industry influence extends well beyond formal participation, through lobbyists embedded within country delegations, informal advisory roles and lobbying during inter-sessional periods.
These actors often apply pressure on Member States, engage in intimidation tactics, and attempt to compromise ambition in related processes, threatening the treaty’s integrity.
In the lead-up to INC-5.2, the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) warned that actors with vested interests have used well-documented tactics such as lobbying, strategic funding and ghostwriting scientific studies.
The OHCHR emphasised that ‘this can lead to misleading claims that cast doubt on scientific evidence, thereby stalling or undermining effective policy action’.
Despite calls to protect the negotiations from the undue influence of these industries, there has been a failure to develop conflict of interest policies to protect the INC process and the future Conferences of the Parties (COPs).
In this already vulnerable space, concerns over UNEP’s objectivity reached a fever pitch before the negotiations began, with the Guardian reporting of ‘total infiltration’ of both petrostates and lobbyists throughout the Plastics Treaty negotiations.
‘The fossil fuel and petrochemicals industry lobbyists aren’t just pulling strings behind the scenes — on the first day of INC-5.2, we saw them boldly take the floor, speak in plenary, and push their agenda in plain sight. Industry isn’t just stalling progress — they’re working in lockstep with petrostates in dragging the process toward the lowest common denominator. This may also reveal something else: public outcry over the plastics crisis shows them the tide is turning, and they’re doubling down.’
RACHEL RADVANY
CIEL Environmental Health campaigner
The outcome of these negotiations will have far-reaching consequences. Plastics pollute our bodies, air, water and soil, accelerating the climate crisis and the collapse of ecosystems.
Without decisive action, plastic production could triple by 2050, exacerbating these impacts unless countries act now.
While industry actors are here to protect their profits and safeguard their commercial interests, the majority of stakeholders are here to protect public health, environmental integrity and a liveable planet for future generations.
‘Petrostates flanked by industry have been content to run down the INC clock, counting on exhaustion and dwindling resources to deliver a hollow treaty. But civil society isn’t going anywhere.
‘We’ll be here every step of the way – encouraging governments to do what they know is right, and what their communities both deserve and need. We are also here to remind Member States that they hold the power and that political courage must prevail over corporate capture and petrostate power.’
DELPHINE LÉVI ALVARÈS
CIEL Global Petrochemicals campaign manager
Big Oil and the plastics industry’s public claims about ‘advanced recycling’ are undermined by their own words and experts
Greenpeace report exposes petrochemical giants campaign to derail Global Plastics Treaty.
