The European Commission has released its new Strategy for Plastics in a Circular Economy. The strategy builds on prior EU efforts to deal with plastic waste in the environment. It notably states that, by 2030, all plastic packaging in the EU must be reusable or easily recyclable.
At present, the EU sends almost a third of the plastic that it uses straight to landfills and another 40% to incineration. This is damaging the environment and wastes costly resources.
“Some 95% of the value of plastic packaging worth up to €105 billion is lost to the economy every year,” said European Commissioner for Environment, Maritime Affairs and Fisheries, Karmenu Vella. “And we still only recycle 30% of our plastic waste in Europe.”
LIFE projects are pitching ideas to turn this situation around. In autumn 2017, a platform meeting on plastic and the circular economy provided fresh insight into how innovative companies and conservationists working with EU funds are helping to carry out the vision set out in the Plastics Strategy.
Beneficiaries from over 40 LIFE projects dealing with plastic waste met for a two-day brainstorming session in Athens, Greece. They split into specialised workshops to share results, exchange ideas and summarise a list of best practices and workable solutions for peers and policy makers.
“The LIFE platform meeting on plastic in a circular economy is a unique occasion to help shape a vision of more sustainable plastic,” said Professor Helmut Maurer, who is responsible for sustainable chemicals at the European Commission. He stresses that the European strategy for plastics needs to be underpinned by concrete projects delivering on its vision. “This is precisely what LIFE is doing.”
Source: © European Union, 1995-2017