According to an unpublished report by Zero Waste France, manufacturers in the packaging industry have spent 2.5 million euros annually to influence public authorities to weaken or abandon regulations aimed at reducing pollution, particularly plastic. The report, titled The Uncomplicated Lobbying of Packaging Industry Manufacturers, is set to be published on October 8 and was accessed in advance by Reporterre. The report highlights that despite the Antigasping for a Circular Economy (Agec) law, which aimed to reduce single-use plastic packaging by 20% between 2021 and 2025, the availability of such products has increased. Legislative efforts to reduce plastic consumption, such as a proposed plastic tax, were reportedly blocked in 2025. The lobbying efforts by packaging industry actors were measured and documented for the first time using data from the register of interest representatives of the High Authority for Transparency in Public Life (HATVP), analyzed by Zero Waste France. The report includes brands that favor plastic packaging, such as L'Oréal, as well as plastic producers represented by Plastalliance, Polyvia, or Elipso, and recycling giants such as Paprec, Suez, or Veolia. L'Oréal opposed the introduction of a new plastic tax, arguing it would duplicate existing Extended Producer Responsibility (REP) mechanisms. The tax was ultimately abandoned, marking a victory for the plastic lobby in 2025 and not reappearing in the 2027 budget bill. The plastic lobby minimizes the environmental dangers of plastic through organizations like Plastalliance, Polyvia, and Elipso, which are active in Parliament. These groups have made numerous declarations of influence actions to protect the right to pollute of their members before the HATVP. They find support within Parliament, such as senator Vincent Louault, who claims France does not contribute to ocean pollution and suggests that artificial intelligence would confirm Europe as the least polluting continent. Zero Waste France notes that France produces twice the global average of waste and exported 800,000 tons of plastic waste in 2021. Vincent Louault has been linked to the use of false information, as seen in his past defense of acetamiprid. Despite this, he argues against the health risks associated with microplastics, though studies suggest their presence in human organs. The plastic industry federation Plastalliance used the slogan "Plastic, it's fantastic" in 2026, and its general secretary, Joseph Tayefeh, states that the organization exchanges primarily with centrist, right, and far-right parliamentarians. Polyvia, the main professional trade union of the French plastic industry, spent 545,000 euros on lobbying in 2025, according to its own admission, which adds to the 2.5 million euros revealed by the NGO. Xavier Chastel, general director of Polyvia, acknowledges exchanges with the cabinet of the Minister of Ecology and parliamentarians. Zero Waste France estimated the lobbying budgets by analyzing the percentage of activities related to packaging from the total declared budgets of 34 actors, arriving at the total of 2.5 million euros spent by these actors on influencing public decision-makers.