Opportunities and challenges for plastic waste

Some 300 experts from European municipalities, local authorities, policy and decision makers, waste management organisations, NGOs, plastics value chain, academia and research institutes gathered in Vienna on 22 and 23 February to share their views and experiences in the fields of plastic waste management and circular economy. 

The event focused on how countries in Central and Southeast Europe can best benefit from the latest experience in Europe and in other parts of the world (particularly in US, Japan and Turkey) in order to improve their own waste management practices and infrastructure.
 
“The circular economy creates a momentum to look towards the future and improve Europe’s competitiveness and resource efficiency” said Karl-H. Foerster, Executive Director of PlasticsEurope. “For this to happen, we must not only accelerate innovation but also look at the overall resource savings a particular product provides over its entire life cycle, not just after use. These two elements: innovation and full life thinking, must go hand in hand to achieve a resource efficient circular economy”.
 
In his keynote speech, Maurits van Tol, Senior Vice President of Borealis, emphasised the importance of closing the loop to avoid waste entering the environment. “Plastics should never end up in the environment. Used plastics should be considered a valuable raw material”, Van Tol pointed out. “A better implementation and enforcement of existing waste legislation has the potential to increase recycling and recovery rates while creating jobs in Europe” he added.
 
Dr Hugo-Maria Schally, European Commission, DG Environment (Eco-innovation & Circular Economy), emphasised on the type of circular economy that the EU should aspire to: “Plastic materials are a driver of our economy, but a number of environmental issues related to their production, use, and end-of-life need to be tackled. Plastics is therefore one of the five priority areas addressed in the “EU action plan for the Circular Economy”. The plan sets out a clear commitment to preparing a strategy that addresses the challenges posed by plastics throughout the value chain and taking into account their entire life-cycle, such as reuse, recyclability, biodegradability, the presence of hazardous substances of concerns in certain plastics and marine litter”, said Mr Schally.