The ideal and reality of the eu plastic war

Europe produces about 26 million tons of plastics each year , of which only about 30% of the plastics are recycled, and most of the rest are incinerated or dumped into landfills.

The European Union ’s “Plastics Strategy” was launched in January 2018 as part of the transition to a circular economy. The goal is to ensure that by 2030 , all plastic packaging on the EU market will be reusable or recyclable, enabling the consumption of disposable plastics Reduced, plastic particles are more restricted.

The European Union's challenges to plastic pollution also include new requirements for designing recyclable products, and the development of plastic waste quality standards within the EU to make it easier to return to the production chain, and encourage producers to use recycled materials as much as possible. Brussels will come up with an annual 1 billion euros, plastic recycling and clean-up specifically for research.

In order to achieve a circular plastics economy, the EU believes that more recycled plastics must be introduced. As part of the strategy of plastic, the European Commission earlier asked the European plastics industry this year must 9 Yue 30 voluntary commitments to increase recycled material in their products prior to the date the hope that through this action is not binding, the 2025 increase of offer 1000 Wan Tons of recycled plastic. The results are planned to be announced in the first quarter of next year.

However, a recent preliminary assessment made the European Commission a little embarrassed to find that if these companies fully fulfill their commitments, companies that can use recycled plastics add up to a total of only 5 million tons of demand.

Now the work of the European Union has become how to manage to narrow the gap between this supply and demand market and increase the demand for recycled plastics.

In late October , the European Parliament passed an overwhelming majority resolution to ban the "most common marine top ten plastic products" in the EU, including disposable plastic products such as plastic straws, cotton swabs, coffee stir bars, and tableware that can be replaced by other materials. It will be banned in 2021 and 90% of plastic bottles will be recycled by 2025 .

The resolution was passed with 571 votes in favor, 53 against and 34 abstentions. Following approval by the European Commission and all member states, the resolution is expected to enter into force as a law in 2021 .

Frederique Ries, a member of the European Parliament from Belgium, said that although Europe is only responsible for a small portion of marine plastic waste, it should play a key role in developing a response plan.

For other disposable plastic products that have no ideal replacement, the European Parliament also requires that its use be reduced by 25% by 2025 ; the consumption of cigarette filter paper containing plastic is reduced by 50% . In addition, manufacturers also need to take more responsibility when producing plastic products and packaging.

The industry associations formed by European plastics manufacturers are very dissatisfied with this, and publicly criticized that the EU's ban on disposable plastic products may not only have a negative impact on health and hygiene, but also hinder people from investing in new recycling methods. The industry believes that legislation should encourage collection and recycling, rather than setting goals to reduce usage.

"The industry is ready to discuss this issue with regulators in order to increase waste recycling, improve education, maintain the EU internal market and avoid harming many small and medium-sized enterprises," said Alexandre Dangis , managing director of the European Plastics Association . "This is likely to lead to a Unrealistic additional EU legislation has many different interpretations at the national level, but there is no coherent approach to follow. "

As a member of the European Plastics Industry Association, PET Sheet Europe , which represents PET sheet producers, said that in the past few years, PET sheet producers have steadily increased product recycling, providing an effective way for plastic recycling. Members of the organization use an average of 45% renewable ingredients and promise to increase to 70% renewable ingredients by 2025 .

The organization urges European policy makers to develop separate recycling policies for PET sheets and implement specific goals instead of adopting methods to reduce consumption, which will undermine 70% of industry commitments and other circular economy initiatives.

The European Federation of Waste Management and Environmental Services (FEAD) is enthusiastic and strongly supports the policy. FEAD said the industry needs 10 billion euros in new investment to innovate and expand the individual collection, sorting and recycling capabilities of all plastics at the EU level.

FEAD 's members are located in 19 EU member states and Norway and Serbia, representing 3,000 companies, and occupy about 60% of the household waste market , and industrial and commercial waste account for 75% .

Spencer Dale , BP ’s chief economist , believes that although disposable plastics only account for about 15% of all non-burning petroleum products , the global ban on disposable plastic products will weaken the next two decades. Oil demand is growing. It is expected that such measures introduced around the world may lead to the disappearance of 2 million barrels of oil per day by 2040 .