Health authorities say reusable packaging poses no more risk of spreading coronavirus than single-use packaging, but the plastics industry is still trying to use COVID-19 to derail progress on reducing single-use plastics. In this article, Samantha Millette and Clarissa Morawski look at the impact that the coronavirus pandemic has had on reusable packaging systems, and…

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On June 4th, Zero Waste Europe and Reloop released a joint policy paper to address the situation of reusable packaging and refillable systems in light of the  COVID-19 pandemic. While industry uses this current health crisis to continue pushing for single-use products and packaging, there is no evidence that disposable packaging contributes to the spread…

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On Thursday, April 30, 2020, Reloop’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Clarissa Morawski took part in a webinar on “The New Battle in Single-Use Plastics” organised and hosted by Environmental Defence Canada (EDC). In this third episode of EDC’s Recovery Series webinars, Clarissa was joined by EDC’s Executive Director Tim Gray and Plastics Program Manager Ashley…

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Over the last few years, plastics have very quickly become the public face of the waste pollution crisis. The quantities of plastics that are littered or leaked into the environment, seas and oceans each year is staggering (5 to 13 million metric tons per year). Europe alone produces 25.8 million metric tons of plastic waste…

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The European Commission’s Circular Economy Package and Plastic Strategy has driven increases in recycling targets for packaging under the Packaging and Packaging Waste Directive 2018/852 (PPWD), as well specific requirements for PET bottles under the Single Use Plastic Directive (90% collected by 2029). France is exploring ways of reaching these targets, one of which is…

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The results are now in for the 2019 #GreatBritishBeachClean. With a 36% increase in drinks containers found and 38 drinks containers found per 100m of beach, the data shows an urgent need for an ‘all-inclusive’ deposit return system (DRS) which is consistent with other DRS across the UK and which includes glass and plastic bottles…

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Times are changing. The global plastic pollution crisis is coming to a head and finally world leaders and policy makers are coming around to working on solutions.

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On June 12, 2019, the Single-Use Plastics Directive on the reduction of the impact of certain plastic products on the environment was published in the European Union’s Official Journal. This marks the final step of the legislative procedure. Member States will now have two years to transpose this Directive into their national laws, until July 3,…

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