EU Plastics Strategy – ambitious targets with a balanced approach

Today, the European Commission took an important step forward in the Circular Economy Action Plan with a publication of the Plastics Strategy. The Strategy settles an ambitious target – by 2030, all plastics packaging placed on the EU market should be reusable or recyclable in a cost-effective manner. More than half of plastics waste in general should be recyclable by 2030 while today it is less than 30%.

BusinessEurope Director General Markus J. Beyrer said: “European industry is fully committed to shifting to a more circular Europe, but the circular economy needs to make business sense. We welcome today’s Plastics Strategy, which is relatively balanced between environmental and economic considerations. We welcome the European Commission’s intention to look for voluntary pledges to boost recycled plastics rather than immediately jump to regulatory actions. We agree that any new EU measures should be in line with the Better Regulation principles, and that an impact assessment should be carried out when measures are likely to have a significant socio-economic impact.

However, we would like to see more clarity on the potential EU-wide fiscal measures as well as the proposed ‘private-led’ fund for financing investments for innovations and technologies. We support the Commission’s intention to first enter into a dialogue with stakeholders on these matters.”