Plastics Archives - Page 2 of 4

Dispatches from Europe: Trying to define ‘single-use plastic’

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…

Effective implementation of separate collection: a key element of success of the SUP Directive

In an attempt to stem the flow of plastic pollution entering our oceans, the European Commission (EC) adopted the Single-Use Plastics (SUP) Directive on the reduction of the impact of certain plastic products on the environment on 2 July 2019. The focus now is on the implementing Acts and Guidelines, which are to be completed…

New Report on Impact of DRS on French Municipalities in Meeting EU Packaging Recycling Targets

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…

2019 British Beach Clean Results Now Available

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…

New Study Looks at Impacts of Single-Use Menstrual Products, Baby Nappies & Wet Wipes in Europe

A new report by ReZero, Zero Waste Europe, Reloop and Break Free From Plastic details the environmental and economic impacts of single-use menstrual products, baby nappies, and wet wipes across the EU-28. Some of the study’s key findings include: CO2 emissions: It has been estimated that, throughout their lifecycle, single-use baby nappies and menstrual products…

New Video on Plastic Pollution

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.

SUPD Becomes Law

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,…

Dispatches from Europe: Packaging reuse in the spotlight

Last year, Collins Dictionary named “single-use” its word of the year, and it’s not difficult to understand why. Efforts to reduce marine litter and eliminate plastic waste were some of the key themes of 2018. And in fact the European Union Parliament and Council ended the year with a provisional agreement to phase out problematic…

Position Paper on South Australia’s SUPs and Container Deposit Scheme

On February 22nd, 2019, the Australian Council of Recycling (ACOR) in association with Reloop Platform submitted to South Australia’s scoping study of options to better manage single use plastics (SUP) and reform the state’s Container Deposit Scheme (CDS). The submission includes recommendations that SA utilizes the European Union’s recent directive on SUPs which include: Bans…

PETCORE Europe Conference 2019

This year’s annual PETCORE Europe Conference, titled “EU Plastics Strategy 2.0 – Taking the PET industry to the next step” took place on February 6-7, 2019 in Brussels, Belgium. The first day of the 2019 conference was dedicated to the perspectives and strategy of the PET value chain, and included a presentation by Reloop’s Managing…