NEWS EC acts on Circular Economy
The European Commission (EC) adopted its new Circu- lar Economy Action Plan last month, which it describes as one of the main building blocks of the European Green Deal agenda for sustainable growth. Frans Timmermans, EVP for the European Green Deal, said a fully circular economy is essential to achieving climate-neutrality by 2050, to preserve the natural environment, and strengthening EU economic competitiveness. The plan puts forward
measures to make sustain- able products the norm. It focuses on sectors that use the most resources and where the potential for circularity is highest, in particular on electronics, vehicles, batteries, packag- ing and food production.
required along the whole value chain and that voluntary and market mechanisms cannot solve the problem alone. The EASAC report makes
For plastics it means
mandatory requirements for recycled content and special attention on micro- plastics, biobased and biodegradable plastics as well as substitution of single-use packaging, tableware and cutlery by reusable products. n Meanwhile, the European Academies of Science (EASAC), which brings together scientists from the EU’s national science
academies, has published its ‘Packaging Plastics in a Circular Economy’ report. It warns that current efforts to resolve the plastics crisis are “ineffective and misleading” given how ubiquitous plastics and plastic waste are. Policymakers and industry must address conflicts in the whole system, from production to end-of-life, EASAC conclud- ed. It argues that fundamen- tal and systemic reforms are
seven key recommenda- tions: banning exports of plastic waste; adoption of a zero plastic waste to landfill strategy; extending produc- er responsibility; ending “misleading” information about bio-based alterna- tives (it says these create a “false image of sustainabil- ity” and reinforce a throw- away mentality); develop integrated recycling systems; limit resin and additive use to improve recyclability; and legislating to ensure virgin feedstock pricing reflects environmen- tal costs. �
http://ec.europa.eu �
www.easac.eu
IK hits out at European Plastics Pact
Germany’s packaging association Industrievereinigung Kunststoffver- packungen (IK) has responded critically to the European Plastics Pact — a partnership of public and private organisations initiated by France, the Netherlands and Denmark — that has published tough new targets for plastic packaging and disposable plastic recycling up to 2025. The IK said the pact was “pure actionism, raising false expectations and thus doing more harm than good to the recycling industry”, adding that it “remains disappointingly vague on the real levers”. What is needed, it argues, is not more targets but better design of the framework conditions to ensure that existing ones can be met. Dr Isabell Schmidt, IK’s Managing Director for Circular Economy, said:
10 COMPOUNDING WORLD | April 2020
“The EU has already set concrete goals in its plastics strategy, the Circular Plastics Alliance is pursuing them with courage, and in Germany the sharp rise in recycling quotas under the new packaging law is already demanding a joint effort along the value chain.” Even the best recyclability, she said,
is of no use if authorities do not ensure that plastic waste is collected separately and sent for recycling. IK said that enforcing EU-wide landfill restrictions and extending deposit systems for drinks bottles throughout Europe is vital, but added that the Plastics Pact is “surprisingly soft on these points”. IK also said the Plastics Pact’s target
of 30% of plastic packaging consisting of recycled materials by 2025 is unrealistic given that regulation
IK Managing Director Dr Isabell Schmidt says pact targets are “pure actionism”
effectively prevents this in the food sector, which is the main packaging consumer. It also criticised the target 20% reduction in plastics by 2025. That often “means substituting them with non-recyclable paper-plastic composites or glass packaging that is questionable from a climate point of view,” Schmidt said. �
http://kunststoffverpackungen.de
www.compoundingworld.com
IMAGE: SHUTTERSTOCK
IMAGE: INDUSTRIEVEREINIGUNG KUNSTSTOFFVERPACKUNGEN
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