The actors of the Swiss plastic system: An analysis of beliefs and interests

Abstract

Technological innovation has led to many new challenges for contemporary democracies, including the emergence of new policy areas. The present study investigates the problem of macro- and micro-plastic pollution, which has lately been progressively receiving political attention. Nevertheless, little is known about how political actors interact in such technical and less politicized policy areas. Hence, the investigation focuses on the actors' belief systems and the coalitions of the Swiss plastic system based on a content analysis and twelve semi-structured interviews conducted with the main organisations. The analyses provides evidence for the emergence of three main coalitions: the environmental, the industrial, and the public coalition. According to the environmental coalition, measures should be taken at the beginning of the plastics’ life cycle; the industry coalition emphasises the benefits derived from recycling and voluntary agreements, whereas the public service coalition maintains that waste-to-energy plants still represent the most suitable solution. The findings offer important implications for both the scientific debate and practitioners. On the one hand, new insights are provided on the dynamics of a developing policy sub-system, through the lenses of the Advocacy Coalition Framework (ACF); on the other hand, from a practical point of view, useful implications are discussed regarding the political acceptability of possible future measures on how to tackle plastic pollution in Switzerland.