GUEST COMMENT
Plastics recycling – now is the time!
 Karl-H. Foerster (Photo: PlasticsEurope) |
Plastics are too valuable to be thrown away. This is a message we, plastics producers and our partners in the value chain, have been transmitting for a number of years, using a variety of different channels and means. Right now, after the European Commission’s decision to cease working on its predecessor’s waste proposals, our message has become more important than ever. If plastics purports to be the material of the future and wants to continue benefiting the goal of sustainability, its recycling needs to be governed by rules and carried out in an orderly fashion.
There is no denying the fact that we have already come a long way. The impressive achievements made to date are summarised in the latest report on "Post Consumer Plastic Waste Management in European Countries 2012", also known as the "Consultic Study", which is considered a reputable source among the expert public, authorities and ministries. Aside from all the successes, the study also highlights that the plastics industry’s goal of achieving a high recovery rate has met with mixed success in Europe. In Germany, plastics recovery has become a central pillar of the sector and a real economic force. At 99%, it has become almost impossible to further improve the country’s recovery quota. The derived secondary materials are mostly used in construction and packaging. However, there are only eight other European countries whose recovery quota exceeds 90%. A workable recovery structure is only present in states that have banned landfill or made it extremely costly. That is why our goal must be a European-wide ban on landfill, and why we plastics producers continue to work with the “Zero plastics to Landfill” project, which aims to achieve a Europe-wide ban by 2025. It makes sense both ecologically and economically to recover plastics using three different approaches – material, feedstock, and energy – which in turn enable optimal resource efficiency at low overall cost. Landfilling is never a sensible solution.
In order to quickly and widely disseminate the different ways in which plastics can be recovered, PlasticsEurope operates a Best-Practice-Transfer programme through which knowledge about the best means to recover plastics waste can be exported to countries that have some catching up to do in this respect. A key pillar in this project is the “IdentiPlast” conference (www.identiplast.eu), which will take place on 29 and 30 April in Rome (see Plasteurope.com of 03.02.2015). The event, which is organised by PlasticsEurope and several other partners, is the number one platform for information exchange on plastics recovery, and has been held in different European cities since 1997. This year’s programme showcases the status quo and latest cutting-edge advances in sorting, recycling and recovery technologies for plastics. We hope to welcome you in Rome!
Karl-H. Foerster
PlasticsEurope Executive Director
There is no denying the fact that we have already come a long way. The impressive achievements made to date are summarised in the latest report on "Post Consumer Plastic Waste Management in European Countries 2012", also known as the "Consultic Study", which is considered a reputable source among the expert public, authorities and ministries. Aside from all the successes, the study also highlights that the plastics industry’s goal of achieving a high recovery rate has met with mixed success in Europe. In Germany, plastics recovery has become a central pillar of the sector and a real economic force. At 99%, it has become almost impossible to further improve the country’s recovery quota. The derived secondary materials are mostly used in construction and packaging. However, there are only eight other European countries whose recovery quota exceeds 90%. A workable recovery structure is only present in states that have banned landfill or made it extremely costly. That is why our goal must be a European-wide ban on landfill, and why we plastics producers continue to work with the “Zero plastics to Landfill” project, which aims to achieve a Europe-wide ban by 2025. It makes sense both ecologically and economically to recover plastics using three different approaches – material, feedstock, and energy – which in turn enable optimal resource efficiency at low overall cost. Landfilling is never a sensible solution.
In order to quickly and widely disseminate the different ways in which plastics can be recovered, PlasticsEurope operates a Best-Practice-Transfer programme through which knowledge about the best means to recover plastics waste can be exported to countries that have some catching up to do in this respect. A key pillar in this project is the “IdentiPlast” conference (www.identiplast.eu), which will take place on 29 and 30 April in Rome (see Plasteurope.com of 03.02.2015). The event, which is organised by PlasticsEurope and several other partners, is the number one platform for information exchange on plastics recovery, and has been held in different European cities since 1997. This year’s programme showcases the status quo and latest cutting-edge advances in sorting, recycling and recovery technologies for plastics. We hope to welcome you in Rome!
Karl-H. Foerster
PlasticsEurope Executive Director
10.03.2015 Plasteurope.com [230637-0]
Published on 10.03.2015