European Parliament votes to expand circular economy favoring permanent materials over single-use plastics

16 Feb 2021 --- The European Parliament (EP) has voted in favor of the Circular Economy Action Plan, demonstrating support for permanent materials that can be infinitely recycled without loss of quality. 

The Plan, which forms an integral part of the European Green Deal, is receiving both criticism and praise from different corners of the packaging industry.

At the crux of the Plan is carbon neutrality and a fully circular economy by 2050. Funding for the Plan will come from the EU’s €750 billion (US$909 million) COVID-19 recovery plan.

Circularity must be driven, says the Plan’s report, by promoting permanent materials such as glass and aluminum in place of less recycled materials like plastics. 

Driving reuse systems and material reduction through simple packaging designs instead of solely focusing on recycling is also emphasized. 

David Carroll, director of external affairs at PlasticsEurope, tells PackagingInsights the plastics industry is pleased with the report. 

“As an industry, we are in full transition to a circular economy and committed to addressing the challenges of waste management, circularity and ending plastic waste in the environment.”

“The text adopted by the EP reflects that all materials, including plastics, can play a part in a circular economy across a wide range of applications, from packaging to construction products to the transport solutions of tomorrow,” he asserts. 

“In particular, we support that chemical recycling is recognized as a potential solution to increase and improve plastics recycling and boost the use of recyclates.”

Anti-plastics campaigners celebrate 
The EP’s adoption of the measures has drawn strong praise in nonprofit quarters, which see the Plan as a long-overdue intervention on the plastic waste crisis. 

“This report marks an important step as the EP calls on the European Commission to implement an EU waste prevention framework concretely. So far, waste prevention was on everyone’s lips, but little was made to translate it into legal provisions,” says Pierre Condamine, a policy officer at Zero Waste Europe. 

“With this, we hope to see the EU legislation effectively change in the coming months.”

Temporary materials like plastic can only be recycled a limited number of times, and lose quality in the process.However, Zero Waste Europe is also criticizing the lack of any policies against waste incineration, which causes carbon emissions and does not effectively dispose of wasted materials. 

The Rethink Plastic alliance has echoed these sentiments, saying the plenary vote marks a necessary stance against single-use plastics. 

“By putting single-use under the spotlight and calling for legislative measures and economic incentives to support reusable solutions, the EP is sending a welcome and robust signal,” adds Justine Maillot, a policy coordinator at the alliance. 

“Reduction, redesign and reuse are – and need to be – at the core of the transition not only to circular products and packaging but also to circular systems.”

Opportunities for non-plastics sectors 
While temporary materials like plastics are now facing restrictions throughout the EU, other packaging industry sectors are seeing critical opportunities for growth. 

Permanent materials like aluminum, glass and steel, which can be recycled infinitely, will likely enjoy space to expand in the coming years. 

The Association of European Producers of Steel for Packaging (APEAL), European Aluminum, the European Container Glass Federation (FEVE) and Metal Packaging Europe – all members of the Permanent Materials Coalition – are celebrating the news. 

Alexis Van Maercke, secretary-general of APEAL, says: “Permanent materials that retain their inherent properties after recycling will enable Europe to keep valuable resources in an endless material loop of new products and packaging.”

Maarten Labberton, director packaging group of European Aluminum, also reveals the importance of improving separate collection systems for different materials. 

“While we support new measures to improve and harmonize existing collection systems and develop high-quality sorting and recycling infrastructure, these should respect best practices, local contexts and well functioning existing systems.”

Aluminum, glass and steel have respective recycling rates of 76 percent, 76 percent, and 82.5 percent, according to the Permanent Materials Coalition. 

By Louis Gore-Langton

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