TAGS: Sustainability / Natural Solutions
European plastics producers support the European Commission’s proposal for a mandatory EU recycled content target for plastics packaging and are today calling for a target of 30 percent for plastics packaging by 2030.
Measures to Achieve Mandatory Target for Plastics
PlasticsEurope members are already working towards the target by investing billions of Euros in increasing high-quality supply of recycled plastics and leading edge technology solutions. Ramping up chemical recycling is essential to achieve such a mandatory target. For example, the members planned investments in this vital technology and infrastructure range from 2.6 billion Euros by 2025 to 7.2 billion Euros by 2030 in Europe.
Dr Markus Steilemann, president of PlasticsEurope and CEO of Covestro, stated, “The world must embrace the circular economy concept as the key to climate neutrality, resource conservation and environmental protection. The call for a regulated recycled content target for plastics packaging in the EU demonstrates our commitment to accelerate the transformation to a circular economy, helping implement the EU Green Deal and Circular Economy Action Plan.”
Harmonized EU Policy Framework
It must be ensured that recycled content is derived from all waste materials through a technology neutral approach that includes both mechanical and chemical recycling, with a credible mass balance framework.
Virginia Janssens, managing director of PlasticsEurope, commented,
“We need a harmonised EU policy framework that provides certainty and incentivizes further investment in collection, sorting and recycling infrastructure and technologies, including chemical recycling. We must harness the power of the single market. However, systemic change requires concerted collaboration. It is only by working together with the EU institutions and the value chain that we can deliver on this target. With the right enabling conditions in place this will be a very different industry ten years from now.”
Source: PlasticsEurope