(L-R) Actor Jeremy Irons and EC Environment Commissioner Janez Potocnik launching the Green Paper on plastic waste

The European Commission (EC) yesterday (7 March), opened an EU-wide consultation on how to reduce plastic waste and make it a more sustainable resource.

The green paper, ‘On a European Strategy on Plastic Waste in the Environment’, launched by Environment Commissioner Janez Potocnik and actor turned environmental-campaigner Jeremy Irons, acknowledges that plastic has become an ‘indispensable’ material in modern society, playing a key role in engineering, construction and the mass production of consumer goods, but notes that plastic waste is a serious environmental problem.

Indeed, the EC estimates that up to 10 million tonnes of litter, most of it plastic, end up in the world’s seas every year.

Now the commission seeks to gather responses on how to increase recycling rates for this material instead of seeing it be sent to landfill.

In support of this position, the green paper cites the examples of several EU member nations, such as Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden, Denmark, Belgium and Austria, which landfill less than five per cent of their waste, whilst achieving between 80 and 100 per cent plastic waste recovery.

While even these countries do still send a large proportion of their plastic waste to energy recovery, according to a report by PlasticsEurope, the EC document notes: ‘As a matter of principle, recycling of plastic waste is a better option than energy recovery or landfilling’, adding: ‘some member states with high recovery rates and landfill bans still have modest plastic recycling rates of around 28 per cent on average. The present ratio between plastic recycling and plastic waste energy recovery could be improved via measures on separate collection, sorting and material recovery. A landfill ban generating an automatic preponderance of energy recovery over recycling would not be in line with the waste hierarchy.’

Consultation questions

The green paper seeks to address the ‘particular challenges posed by plastic waste [which] are not specifically addressed in EU waste legislation at present’ and asks citizens and stakeholders to submit responses to 26 questions to ‘assess the impacts of plastic waste and define a European strategy to mitigate them’.

Stakeholders are invited to contribute their views on whether, and how, existing legislation should be ‘adapted to deal with plastic waste’ and ‘promote re-use, recycling and recovery of plastic waste over landfilling’, with views sought on a range of items, including potential for introducing a plastic waste landfill ban.

According to the document, a landfill ban could be introduced as ‘although under a life cycle perspective not all plastic waste may be suitable for recycling, there are no technical reasons why plastic should go to landfill rather than being recycled or exploited for energy recovery’.

Other questions asked in the consultation cover subjects including:

• the strength of existing legislative framework for plastic waste;
• further measures on pushing plastic waste recycling;
• introducing a tax for plastic sent for energy recovery;
• introducing optional/mandatory separate door step collection of all plastic waste combined with pay-as-you-throw schemes for residual waste;
• the ‘effectiveness of potential recycling targets’;
• increasing landfill taxes;
• improving the ‘modular and chemical design of plastic’ to enhance recyclability;
• reducing marine litter;
• the need to promote biodegradable plastics.

The consultation will be open until 7 June 2013, and answers will reportedly contribute towards further policy action in 2014, as well as forming part of a broader waste policy review.

‘Plastic has a future’

Speaking at the launch, Environment Commissioner Janez Potocnik, said: “Managing plastic waste is a major challenge in terms of environmental protection, but it's also a huge opportunity for resource efficiency. In a circular economy where high recycling rates offer solutions to material scarcity, I believe plastic has a future. I invite all stakeholders to participate in this process of reflection on how to make plastic part of the solution rather than the problem.”

Actor Jeremy Irons, who was in Brussles to back the green paper and screen Candida Brady’s environmental documentary TRASHED (read an interview with TRASHED’s director, Candida Brady, in Resource 70) said: “The way we deal with our trash will take time; there is disorganisation in many countries. Nevertheless, we have to put policies in place. [The UK] has the organisation [to do more]... but [they're] doing spectacularly little about it. Countries should be encouraged to recycle, we should aim towards zero waste.”

The consultation has been met positively by the plastic recycling industry, with President of Plastics Recyclers Europe (the representative body of plastics recyclers in Europe) Ton Emans saying:“The policy options investigated by the commission are the most appropriate ones to reduce the impact of plastics waste on the environment… a landfill ban, specific plastics waste recycling targets and eco-design are great solutions to increase recycling. These policies will increase Europe’s resource efficiency, create green jobs and reduce our environmental impact.”

The consultation comes amid growing concern of the environmental impacts of plastic waste. Earlier this week (6 March), plastic manufacturer Closed Loop Recycling and sustainable cleaning products brand Ecover announced that they are launching a trial project aimed at creating new, recycled packaging from waste plastic collected from UK seas.

Read the EC’s plastic waste consultation paper.