Plastics Recyclers Europe demands clear plastic circularity rules to drive EU investment incentives

08 Dec 2023 --- Plastics Recyclers Europe (PRE) calls upon the EU to maintain the ambition to achieve a “genuine circularity” for plastics by driving competitiveness and innovation through five key priority areas. 

The organization predicts that the European institutions will face a “decisive” period from 2024–2029, in which they must continue delivering on the Green Deal’s objectives while implementing and enforcing measures transforming plastics into a fully circular material. 

PRE identifies addressing key challenges in collection, design for recycling and uptake while delivering transparent rules to verify the various targets’ progress as some of the EU’s critical prerequisites in the coming years. 

“Plastics recycling has proved itself as one of the vital components of a circular economy in Europe. To unlock its full potential, necessary incentives targeting the entire value chain must be set to drive investments toward EU recycling capacities and technological developments,” asserts Ton Emans, president at PRE.

The network believes that European action should be focused on five priorities. The first is to accelerate the transition toward circular plastics. To achieve this, the European institutions should address systemic barriers, promoting the enhancement of harmonized collection systems across the EU and establishing realistic recycling and recycled content targets.

The implementation of verification and certification is crucial to ensure material tracability along the value chain, says PRE (Image credit: PRE).Establishing transparency 
Combating greenwashing is essential to promote transparency and establish a level playing field for all products, including imported ones, asserts PRE.

The implementation of reliable verification and certification systems plays a key role by ensuring the traceability of waste-derived materials across the entire value chain.

When asked about the hurdles for combating unverified material imports to the EU, Antonino Furfari, managing director at PRE, tells Packaging Insights that the main challenges would be their significantly lower prices compared to those within the European market and the lack of verification mechanisms and materials traceability. 

“However, the objective is not to combat material imports but to set a level playing field for all actors. The EU has robust legislation on recycled materials, specifically those intended to come into contact with food.” 

“To meet these standards, European recyclers have made significant investments to secure capacities, to meet high environmental requirements and to ensure the compliance and high quality of such products. This sets standards for business in the EU, while the imports of materials often go unverified, creating a loophole when it comes to applying EU legislation.”

Furfari says that verification mechanisms of imported goods would increase transparency and create the same rules for all actors in the value chain. “In the EU, voluntary-based, third-party checked certification systems based on the chain of custody model to ensure the traceability of recycled plastics are already being adopted by the industry. These systems are setting a good example.”

“Without a third-party audit certification for traded goods, it is impossible to ascertain the origin, traceability and levels of recycled polymers and therefore ensure a level playing field. This applies to both European and non-European recycled materials,” he says.

National successes 
PRE says that these actions will ensure fair competition and strengthen investments in the EU’s plastics industry, securing an environmentally sustainable supply of high-quality recyclates and continued innovation in a global market.The recycling of plastic packaging from the “yellow bag” reached a new high, Plastics Europe reported this week.

Lastly, forward-looking policies based on scientific assessments and robust data should be the cornerstone of European action.

By considering these priorities, the European institutions will boost the EU plastics recycling industry and facilitate the transition toward the EU’s Green Deal. This will be the first building block to move toward a circular, carbon-neutral economy that relies on collaborative efforts, open dialogue and unwavering commitment from policymakers, industry stakeholders and consumers.

Meanwhile, at the beginning of this week, the German Federal Environment Agency and the German Central Office for Packaging Register presented new figures on plastic packaging recycling. The recycling of plastic packaging from the “yellow bag” reached a new high of 67.5%. 

Ingemar Bühler from Plastics Europe Germany, the association of plastics manufacturers, said that the numbers prove that the dual system works. “But we cannot rest on our laurels. In the long term, all plastic packaging must be recycled.”

Composite packaging, in particular, has so far been difficult to recycle. “It starts with the design,” says Bühler. “Plastic packaging should be designed to use as little material as possible and be easy to recycle. In addition, further investments in mechanical and chemical recycling are needed. 

By Natalie Schwertheim