The production of plastic has grown exponentially in just a few decades - from 1.5 million of tonnes in 1950 to 322 million of tonnes in 2015 worldwide – and with it the amount of plastic waste. The European Parliament has already backed measures to reduce the amount of plastic waste including a ban on certain single use plastics items and a restriction of light-weight plastic bags in the EU in 2015. In Europe, energy recovery is the most used way to dispose of plastic waste, followed by landfill. Some 30% of all the generated plastic waste is collected for recycling and recycling rates by country vary a lot.
Half of the plastic collected for recycling is exported to be treated in countries outside the EU. Reasons for the exportation include the lack of capacity, technology or financial resources to treat the waste locally. However after China’s, recent ban on plastic waste imports, it is increasingly urgent to find other solutions. The low share of plastic recycling in the EU means big losses for the economy as well as for the environment. It is estimated that 95% of the value of plastic packaging material is lost to the economy after a short first-use cycle. Each year, the production and incineration of plastic emits about 400 million tonnes of CO2 globally, a part of which could be avoided through better recycling.
MEPs backed a European strategy for plastic in September, which calls for all plastic packaging waste to be recyclable by 2030. This would imply better design for recyclability, but MEPs believe measures to stimulate the market for recycled plastic are also needed. These measures could include the creation of quality standards for secondary plastics, encouraging certification in order to increase the trust of both industry and consumers, introducing mandatory rules on minimum recycled content in certain products and encouraging member states to consider reducing VAT on recycled products.
