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We had (have) this here in Belgium with a very real case. Separate collection of plastics and the creation of plastics collection and recycling (organizations)c

We had (have) this here in Belgium with a very real case. Separate collection of plastics and the creation of plastics collection and recycling (organizations)companies were introduced for environmental improvement. Unfortunately, these have turned into the biggest plastic packaging lobby and have caused an explosion in the use of plastic packaging in retail. More plastic use is unfortunately a net benefit to those whose economic/financial incentives depend on it.

valesco 6y ago
I live in Belgium and I never heard of that. Do you have any source? I’m interested.
- PeterStuer 6y ago
  In Dutch. https://trends.knack.be/economie/bedrijven/recyclagebedrijf-fost-plus-beschuldigd-van-belangenvermenging-en-machtsmisbruik/article-news-1704779.html https://trends.knack.be/economie/bedrijven/recyclagebedrijf-...
photon-torpedo 6y ago
I would have thought that Belgium had learned from its past [1] to think carefully about providing incentives with potentially (horribly) harmful side effects. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atrocities_in_the_Congo_Free_State https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atrocities_in_the_Congo_Free_S... -- "... The collection of hands became an end in itself. Force Publique soldiers brought them to the stations in place of rubber; they even went out to harvest them instead of rubber ... They became a sort of currency ..."
- PeterStuer 6y ago
  There are many examples of perverse incentives. As for the reference you provide, note that the atrocities were at the time when private companies using private militias ruled the region that was the property of a private holding of Leopold of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld who at the time also was the King of Belgium. It was the Belgian state learning of these atrocities that prompted Belgian state to annex the region and bring these to a halt. It could be argued that indeed the public sector should have learned not to trust the murky amalgam of old and new capital

valesco 6y ago

I live in Belgium and I never heard of that. Do you have any source? I’m interested.

PeterStuer 6y ago
In Dutch. https://trends.knack.be/economie/bedrijven/recyclagebedrijf-fost-plus-beschuldigd-van-belangenvermenging-en-machtsmisbruik/article-news-1704779.html https://trends.knack.be/economie/bedrijven/recyclagebedrijf-...

photon-torpedo 6y ago

I would have thought that Belgium had learned from its past [1] to think carefully about providing incentives with potentially (horribly) harmful side effects. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atrocities_in_the_Congo_Free_State https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atrocities_in_the_Congo_Free_S... -- "... The collection of hands became an end in itself. Force Publique soldiers brought them to the stations in place of rubber; they even went out to harvest them instead of rubber ... They became a sort of currency ..."

PeterStuer 6y ago
There are many examples of perverse incentives. As for the reference you provide, note that the atrocities were at the time when private companies using private militias ruled the region that was the property of a private holding of Leopold of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld who at the time also was the King of Belgium. It was the Belgian state learning of these atrocities that prompted Belgian state to annex the region and bring these to a halt. It could be argued that indeed the public sector should have learned not to trust the murky amalgam of old and new capital