Euric claims that today the recycling rates are low. And despite of heavy investment by some companies, the still face difficulties that are mainly linked to
- the lack of incentives to stimulate the demand for recycled materials,
- the lack of eco-design requirements to increase the recyclability of plastics in products and
- insufficiently coherent and predictable policies which threaten long term investments.
Therefore Euric claims that there has to be a pull for the demand of recycled plastics to avoid that plastic recycling mainly depends on highly volatile oil prices. To achieve a functioning market, the federaton suggests incentives like
- implementation of green public procurement rules,
- setting of market mechanisms which reward the environmental benefits of plastics recycling,
- creating incentives for the manufacturing sector to include recyled plastics into new products.
Another aspect is the focus on eco-design requirements, including adequate information about the content of plastics. Euric demands a better communication between manufacturers and recyclers to understand each other’s constraints. The federation also points out the challenge of the recycling of polymers that are not recycled today.
Finally Euric asks for more coherent and predictable policies. The example of WEEE and ELVs show how waste and chemical legislations can interfere and make recycling impossible. “In addition, socio-economic assessments and regulatory predicabbility, consistency with products policy and transparency are crucial to ensure that the industrial capacity of plastic recycling in the EU can grow and investments can be made in a predictable regulatory environment”, the federation claims.
More information on Euric’s position on the plastics strategy can be found here.
