The European Commission (EC) recently published "A European Strategy for Plastics in a Circular Economy" – see Plasteurope.com of 19.01.2018. In a joint statement, six European associations and organisations of the plastic value chain have voluntarily committed themselves to far-reaching measures for a circular economy. The commitments are focused on increasing plastics recycling rates and resource efficiency, with the goal of recycling half of all European plastics waste by 2040. The signatories says they recognise that supporting EU regulatory requirements are needed to ensure the objectives will be met.

The contributing associations are Plastics Recyclers Europe (PRE, Brussels / Belgium; www.plasticsrecyclers.eu), Petcore Europe (Brussels; https://petcore-europe.org), the European Carpet and Rug Association (ECRA, Brussels; www.ecra.eu), the "Polyolefin Circular Economy Platform" (PCEP Europe) as well as European Plastics Converters (EuPC, Brussels; www.plasticsconverters.eu) and the European PVC recycling initiative VinylPlus (Brussels; www.vinylplus.eu). The published voluntary commitment framework details additional recovery and eco-design measures, based on VinylPlus' knowledge about PVC and Petcore's expertise in PET recycling in Europe.

Due to the complexity of the plastics industry in Europe, and the EC's focus on issues related to marine litter as well as the currently low recycling rates of plastics waste, the partners are in favour of immediate new measures. Their action plan envisages a recycling rate of 70% for plastic packaging by 2040, and 50% for all other plastic waste. Achieving these goals would also help to greatly reduce residual waste. In addition, the organisations intend to become more active in certain product-specific sectors – such as the carpet industry.

European processors and recyclers see a combination of their voluntary actions and EU regulatory measures – such as the new plastics strategy from Brussels. "The EU plastics industry is not able to achieve these ambitious targets on its own. To truly develop a more circular plastics industry, to improve its competitiveness and to create jobs and growth in Europe, we need the support and collaboration of the EU authorities." Moreover, they urgently need to establish the necessary recycling initiatives along the entire value chain – otherwise the ambitious goals will not stand a chance.

e-Service:
"The European Plastics Industry Circular Economy Voluntary Commitments" (Jan. 2018) as a PDF file