EuRIC - the European Recycling Industries’ Confederation and the umbrella organisation for the recycling industries, has followed up a recent call for more recycled content in cars with a new brochure highlighting the importance of moving towards a circular economy for plastics in Europe. In it, the organisation identifies the most commonly used types of plastics and describes the current state-of-play, challenges faced by the European mechanical plastics recycling industry alongside with key recommendations to overcome them.
Further publications, stressing the vital role the recycling industry will play in the transition towards a circular economy, are planned.
The publications come at a time when the plastics recycling industry is at a disadvantage, in part due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Demand for recycled materials is plummeting alongside as the prices of virgin plastics sink to record lows.
Paul Mayhew, general manager at MBA Polymers UK, a leading plastics recycling company, who is also the president of EuRIC’s Plastic Recycling Branch (EPRB) emphasized the major contribution that plastics recycling can make towards a circular economy for improving Europe’s competitiveness and resource efficiency.
“Moving towards a more sustainable economy for plastics will deliver considerable benefits. What is missing in order to speed up that transition are measures to stimulate the demand for recycled plastics in products through recycled content targets and incentives rewarding their environmental benefits when compared with virgin plastics and a more consistent legislative framework,” he said.
“It is essential to further restrict landfill and incineration of but also better control unprocessed plastic waste exports outside Europe to countries with lower recycling standards.”