EuRIC and FEAD fully support the European Parliament’s draft report issued on 9th July, to make it mandatory to produce beverage containers with at least 25% of recycled plastics by 2025. The report of ENVI Committee Rapporteur,
MEP Frédérique RIES, aims to amend the
proposal for a Directive […] on the reduction of the impact of certain plastic products on the environment (“Single Use Plastics” Directive).
This proposal, as acknowledged in the draft report, will encourage the creation of a steady market for recyclates, and will ensure a more circular use of plastics. It is a key measure in shifting away from the ever increasing production of single-use use plastic bottles, while recyclable ones do not follow the same trend. Collecting up to 90% plastic bottles in 2025, as proposed in the Directive, is a welcomed first step but will not be enough to steer the plastic markets towards less single-use bottles. Designing recyclable packaging items is necessary to facilitate recycling, and a strong signal is needed to boost both the offer of recyclable plastics and the demand of recycled plastics. The draft EP proposal to include at least 25% of recycled plastics in beverage containers is a crucial first step in this direction, and we fully support its inclusion in the legal text.
FEAD and EuRIC, alongside 33 other stakeholders, recently called for the EU to take action1 and broaden the introduction of recycled content mandates for plastic packaging and products containing plastics in general. The introduction of recycled content in products and packaging by 2025 would considerably boost the market for recycled plastics in Europe, while pushing to minimize the space that non-recyclable ones occupy.
For further information, please contact:
EuRIC – The European Recycling Industries’ Confederation – is the umbrella organisation for recycling industries. Through its Member Federations from 20 EU & EFTA countries, EuRIC represents across Europe over:
- 5,500+ companies generating an aggregated annual turnover of about 95 billion €, including large companies & SMEs, involved in the recycling of various resource streams;
- 300,000 local jobs which cannot be outsourced;
- Million tons of waste recycled per year (metals, paper, plastics, glass and beyond).
Recyclers play a key role in a circular economy. By turning wastes into resources, recycling is the link which reintroduces recycled materials into the value chains again and again.
FEAD Secretariat: info@fead.be
FEAD is the European Federation representing the European waste management industry. FEAD’s members are national waste management associations covering 19 Member States, Norway and Serbia. They have an approximate 60% share in the household waste market and handle more than 75% of industrial and commercial waste in Europe. Their combined annual turnover is approximately € 75 billion. FEAD represents about 3000 companies with activities in all forms of waste management. These companies employ over 320000 people who operate around 2400 recycling and sorting centres, 1100 composting sites, 260 waste-to-energy plants and 900 controlled landfills. They play an important role in the determination of the best environmental option for waste management problems.
