More than 76 percent of European plastic convertors believe that improving the collection and sorting of plastic waste would be the most suitable way to increase the quality of recycled plastics materials, according to the findings of a survey by the European Plastics Converters Association (EuPC).
The survey, in which 376 companies from 21 European countries participated, also found that 53 percent of respondents believed better recycling technologies should be put in place, while 29 percent called for “better design for recycling.”
Some 80 percent said they were already taking measures to improve the quality of recyclates.
The EuPC went on to say that the European Union's Plastics Strategy's targets for recycled material content were “practically impossible under the current conditions.”
In its survey, the EuPC included 10 different recycled plastic materials but the majority of respondents said the supply of only two of the materials was “sufficient.”
The situation, the EuPC report said, “worsens” when it comes to the quality of the available recycled material. Recycled PET was the only material for which a majority of respondents — 71 percent — said the quality is up to standard.
The survey is part of EuPC's ongoing efforts to address the technical issues related to the recycling of polymers and the use of recycled plastics by converting companies.
EuPC is planning to launch another survey in 2019, and is currently working on a project to develop a single, unified online tool to monitor the use of recycled plastics in the European plastics converting industry.