Materials News
EU economy going full circle with bioplastics Europe’s target for a bioeconomy has birthed its latest directive on a circular economy, including its recommendations on the use of biobased plastics, a view that has solicited mixed reviews from industry sectors, including NGOs like Break Free From Plastic movement, according to Angelica Buan in this report.
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he EU has finally penned its landmark circular economy plan after wrestling scrutiny from political parties and analysts, alike, to pursue a sustainable, low carbon, resource efficient and competitive economy. After all, it is high time to rethink how wastes are being managed. The proposed actions will contribute to "closing the loop" of product lifecycles, through greater recycling and re-use, and bring benefits for both the environment and the economy. The revised legislative proposals on waste set clear targets for reduction of waste and establish an ambitious and credible long-term path for waste management and recycling. In the package, the EU sets a municipal waste recycling target of 65% and packaging waste of 75% by 2030. These are followed with simplified and improved definitions and harmonised calculation methods for recycling rates throughout Europe. A standard feature is the banning of landfilling of separately collected waste, to reduce landfills to a maximum of 10% of municipal waste, also by 2030. Meanwhile, a highlight of this policy and to keep the circular economy mechanics on the roll, is implementation of measures to promote reuse of these wastes to create, what it calls, industrial symbiosis, meaning, an industry’s by product can be utilised as another industry’s raw material.
EU's circular economy plan aims to build a sustainable, low carbon, resource efficient and competitive economy
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MARCH / APRIL 2017
Economic incentives for producers of green products are also provided, as well as for recovery and recycling of wastes from packaging, batteries, electric and electronic equipment, and vehicles. The EU action plan’s closed-loop economy is also pronged to the region’s 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, which is broader in scope, and includes poverty alleviation as well as preservation of natural resources. As opposed to the conventional linear model, a closedloop economy means that the value of products, materials and resources is maintained in the economy for as long as possible, and the generation of waste minimised. This approach is expected to develop a sustainable, low carbon, resource efficient and competitive economy for the EU. Plastics’ radius of impact to EU’s economy Plastics production is a huge industry in Europe, and ranked seventh in Europe in terms of industrial value-added contribution (based on 2012 industry data). Comprising plastics raw materials producers, plastics converters and machinery manufacturers in the 28 member states in the EU, the industry is a main economic artery, providing direct jobs to more than 1.5 million people in Europe. It also brought in a trade balance of EUR16.5 billion and turnover of more than EUR340 billion in 2015 , according to a 2016 report, Plastics - the facts, by European plastics association, PlasticsEurope, and the European Association of Plastics Recycling and Recovery Organisation (EPRO). In 2015, Europe’s plastics demand reached 49 million tonnes, with thermoplastics and thermosets as the most widely used types; and the packaging segment garnering the highest share at 39.9%, while electrical/electronics posted the lowest at 5.8%. Plastics are too valuable a resource that the economy cannot afford to lose them in landfills or in incinerators. In the report, recycling and energy recovery are offered as complementary options to exploit plastics waste, as enablers of a circular economy. These instruments are also recommended to help bridle marine litter.