Politics

Following the European Parliament’s plenary session on September 13, FEAD, the European Federation representing the European waste management industry, welcomes the positive vote on the draft own-initiative report on a European strategy for plastics in a circular economy by rapporteur MEP Mark Demesmaeker.

Incentives to collect marine litter at sea, new EU-wide standards and definitions for biodegradability and compostability, and a complete EU ban on oxo-degradable plastic by 2020 are among the proposals set out in the non-binding draft resolution, adopted on Thursday with 597 votes to 15 and 25 abstentions.

Dr.Ir Alain Vassart, General Secretary of the European Battery Recycling Association EBRA, will be a panel member at this year’s ICBR. He has already given some advance insights into how he assesses the current market situation.

New emissions and efficiency standards will help national authorities to lower the environmental impact of the largest waste treatment installations in the EU, dealing with both hazardous and non-hazardous waste. This represents around 4,000 installations.

EuRIC and FEAD fully support the European Parliament’s draft report issued on 9th July, to make it mandatory to produce beverage containers with at least 25% of recycled plastics by 2025.

As tensions escalate amid an ongoing trade war between the U.S. and China that is having a damaging effect on the recycling industry, the Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries (ISRI) this week requested the U.S. government make every effort to negotiate a path forward with China.

In light of the upcoming votes on the Plastics Strategy and the Single-Use Plastics Products and the implementation of the Circular Economy Package, a coalition of 34 organisations and companies call for EU action on recycled content mandates for plastics to close the Circular Economy loop.

In light of the ENVI Committee’s upcoming vote on the Plastics Strategy on July 10, FEAD, the EU private waste and resource management industry, welcomes MEP Mark Demesmaeker’s draft own-initiative report. However, FEAD would like to highlight crucial points that need to be touched upon in order for the Plastics Strategy to be fully effective.

An assessment of the performance of the Bulgarian Presidency of the EU has found that it failed to prioritise and protect nature in the EU and at home but did perform well on energy, circular economy and chemicals.

EU countries lag behind in phasing out single-use plastic bags and curbing plastic pollution, warn Surfrider Foundation Europe (SFE) and Zero Waste Europe (ZWE) on the 9th International Plastic Bag Free Day.

According to the BIR, reports from the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, published on 24 June 2018, highlight that China plans to reduce its imports of solid waste to zero by the end of 2020.