PlasticsEurope seeks mandatory 30% recycled content target for plastics

PlasticsEurope, the Brussels-based pan-European association of plastics resin suppliers, said it supports the European Commission's proposal for a mandatory recycled-content target for plastics packaging in the European Union.

In a Sept. 9 statement, the association called for a target of 30 percent recycled content for plastics packaging by 2030.

According to its figures, some 17.8 metric tons of post-consumer packaging waste were collected in 2018, with 42 percent sent to recycling, 39.5 percent to energy recovery and 18.5 percent to landfills. Those figures, the group said, clearly show room for improvement.

A mandatory EU recycled-content target in packaging would drive the market for recycled content and help to make a true circular economy happen.

As PlasticsEurope noted, using recycled content in plastic packaging would offer several advantages: It would allow the recycling of plastic waste that would otherwise be incinerated or sent to landfill; further reduce the carbon footprint of packaging; and by reducing the amount of virgin material needed, it would also help conserve natural resources.

However, a lack of regulatory authorization for polymers, such as for food-contact legislation, combined with inconsistent batch qualities and lack of supply security, are all still factors that must be tackled if true progress is to be made, the group said.

The efficiency of the supply chain and having the right infrastructure in place also need to be taken into account. Achieving this goal requires action from all partners involved.

Another pan-European trade group, the European Plastics Converters, noted the complications to the entire supply chain in response to PlasticsEurope's target.

While 30 percent is a good goal, EuPC said in a statement, without a sufficient base to acquire more recycled material, converters will suffer in trying to reach an impossible number.

"As long as recyclates required by the market are not yet available in sufficient quantities and qualities, there is a big risk of quality impairments and marketing bans for our plastic packaging," EuPC President Renato Zelcher said in a news release.

"This would seriously jeopardize the economic existence of thousands of medium-sized plastics processors and packaging users in Europe and their investments into circularity," Zelcher said. "Circular economy is a shared responsibility."

EuPC represents plastics processors, while PlasticsEurope represents resin suppliers.

The European Commission's Circular Plastics Alliance is a good example of the type of concerted collaboration that is necessary, according to the organization. PlasticsEurope plays a leading role in the alliances, which brings together more than 290 value chain members striving toward the delivery of 10 million tonnes of recycled content in products by 2025.

PlasticsEurope members also are already working toward the proposed 2030 target and are investing billions of Euros in new technology solutions such as chemical recycling. Planned investments in this technology and infrastructure range from 2.6 billion euros ($3 billion) by 2025 to 7.2 billion euros ($8.5 billion) by 2030 in Europe.

"Chemical recycling is the missing link necessary to achieve a truly circular economy for plastics," PlasticsEurope said. "As a promising technology, chemical recycling complements other plastic recycling options like mechanical and dissolution recycling."

Ramping up chemical recycling is essential to achieve such a mandatory target, the association noted

"The call for a regulated recycled-content target for plastics packaging in the EU demonstrates our commitment to accelerate the transformation to a circular economy, helping implement the EU Green Deal and Circular Economy Action Plan," said Markus Steilemann, president of PlasticsEurope and CEO of Covestro.

"To successfully meet this target, we need new systems thinking, mindset and behavioral changes, higher-performing products, eco-design innovation and new infrastructure, amongst others. We must also ensure recycled content is derived from all 'waste materials' through a technology-neutral approach that includes both mechanical and chemical recycling, with a credible mass balance framework," he said.

Chemical recycling not only enables plastic waste to be recycled, which would otherwise end up in incineration or landfill, but the output results in significant quantities of recycled material with virgin properties, according to PlasticsEurope.

The material is suitable even for use in sensitive or demanding applications, such as food contact. It also, its proponents say, has a huge potential for creating quality jobs and contributing to a climate-neutral and competitive circular economy in Europe.

"We need a harmonized EU policy framework that provides certainty and incentivizes further investment in collection, sorting and recycling infrastructure and technologies, including chemical recycling," Virginia Janssens, managing director of PlasticsEurope, said.

"We must harness the power of the single market. However, systemic change requires concerted collaboration. It is only by working together with the EU institutions and the value chain that we can deliver on this target. With the right enabling conditions in place, this will be a very different industry 10 years from now," she said.