Workshop in Brussels

On 28th June 2011 EuPC (European plastics converters) and EuPF (European plastics films) have organized a European workshop on agricultural plastics waste recycling and recovery in Brussels. The objective was to analyze in Europe the different national recovery systems in place for agricultural plastics and to benchmark them for further implementation in a new European Industry Voluntary Scheme to develop collection and recycling of agricultural plastics waste. Following the publication of the BIOIS study it is evident that more collection for recycling and recovery needs to be developed in Europe as the statistics show the potential exists and the converting industry is keen in developing these schemes together with the support of the EU Commission. On 17th June 2011 a special visit was organized for a few civil servants from the EU Commission DG ENV to the Belgian and Dutch plastics recycling plants able to recycle mechanically mixed packaging waste and agricultural films. EuPF Chairman Björn Hoem chaired the workshop on agricultural plastics in Brussels. This voluntary action from industry fits very well in the resource efficiency strategy proposed by the Commission DG ENTR. Concrete actions in several EU Countries will be following this workshop after summer and in the next months.