Circular Plastics Alliance: a further step towards 10 million tons of recycled plastic

On September 27, the European Commission welcomes an important new step taken by the Circular Plastics Alliance to boost the EU market for recycled plastics and ensure at least 10 million tonnes are recycled by 2025. Since the launch of the alliance in 2018, good progress has been made with an increase of almost 30% in the European production of recycled plastics. The alliance will now even step-up efforts by ensuring recyclability of 26 plastic products in packaging, construction, agriculture and home appliances that altogether account for over 60% of plastic waste collected in Europe. This could alone deliver on the ten million tonnes objective. In addition, the alliance has now developed a new roadmap to achieve the ten million tonnes and adopted the methodology and rules for a new EU-wide monitoring system of recycled plastics.

Thierry Breton, Commissioner for Internal Market, said: “With the Circular Plastics Alliance, the plastics value chain is showing great cooperation towards the transition to circular plastics. The mobilisation of all actors, public and private, along the value chain and across key plastics-using sectors, is also improving Europe's resilience by maximising the use of plastic waste as a valuable resource. I welcome these efforts and count on the alliance's continued engagement”.

Today, the alliance represents almost 300 industry, academic and public sector organisations across the whole of the recycled plastics value chain. The first voluntary pledges for recycled plastics made by industry showed that the supply of recycled plastics could reach and exceed the target; however, more work was needed to ensure the use of recycled plastics. In this regard, the alliance is preparing a report on the requirements and solutions to increase the integration of recycled plastics in products by 2025. The alliance will also regularly update its ‘roadmap to 10 million tonnes recycled content' through an open process of dialogue and exchange with national and local authorities and all other interested stakeholders.