Six European organisations from the plastics value chain have committed, in cooperation with the European Commission, to launch Circularity Platforms aiming to reach 50% plastics waste recycling by 2040. These will drive the recycling of plastic products in Europe and considerably reduce littering volumes. Plastics Recyclers Europe (PRE), Petcore Europe, the European Carpet and Rug Association (ECRA), the Polyolefin Circularity Platform (PCEP Europe), European Plastics Converters (EuPC) and VinylPlus® have adopted a framework of voluntary commitments to continue and expand existing plastics recycling activities and create additional circularity platforms inspired by the good example set by VinylPlus® and Petcore Europe.
The transition towards a more circular economy is a herculean task that demands a strong commitment and concrete actions from all involved parties. A real industrial transformation can only be accomplished through the strong engagement of the plastics converting industry, backed up by stakeholders from the entire plastics value chain. Divided actions will not make a significant difference. Accomplishment of ambitious sustainability targets also depends on the support of national authorities and European legislators.
The aim of the various Circularity Platforms and their voluntary commitments is to develop common goals and actions for a sector as large and fragmented as the European plastics industry, representing more than 60,000 companies (mainly SMEs). The extremely ambitious goal to reach 50% recycling and reuse of plastics waste as well as 70% recycling and reuse of plastic packaging can only be reached through platforms involving the entire value chain: from raw material producers, designers, converters, collectors and recyclers to brand owners and specifiers.
Our targets are listed in the document “The European Plastics Industry Circular Economy Voluntary Commitments. Towards 50% Plastics Waste Recycling”. Additional measures will be developed in the near future. To access the document, please visit the following link: www.plasticsconverters.eu.
