EuPC welcomes the efforts of the EMF to tackle the worldwide ocean pollution

Yesterday in Bali, at the Our Ocean Conference, organised by the Government of the Republic of Indonesia, the Ellen MacArthur Foundation presented another chapter to its activity, called New Plastics Economy Global Commitment. The Commitment aims to create a new scenario for plastic packaging by eliminating single-use packaging materials, increasing the amount of reused or recycled plastics in new products and promote innovation to ensure 100% of plastic packaging can be reused, recycled, or composted by 2025.

European Plastics Converters welcome the intentions behind the Global Commitment and acknowledge the need to tackle marine litter. However, at the same time, EuPC regrets it cannot actively participate in this exercise. EuPC, representing 50.000 SMEs, offers its expertise, knowledge and industrial network to finetune the Global Commitment which has been drafted only by a few individuals without consulting the plastics converting industry. We believe that together, plastics converters are the best placed industry to define the vision for our industry in a sustainable world, with well performing waste collection systems and more circular designed products.

However, we are sorry about the fact that no country from regions in the world where the problems are the biggest and where educational campaigns are desperately necessary has signed up the new Commitment.

European plastics industries will continue to develop, from a bottom up approach, on the field the means to overcome technical hurdles on the use and uptake of more recycled polymers in as much applications as possible. More collection and sorting of plastics waste are essential steps even in Europe.

Local actions must be carried out in short time since apparently 80% of the world market is made of brands who are not signatories of the EMF vision. In order to further enhance the use of recycled plastics in Europe, EuPC is working on an ambitious project in digitalizing the use of recycled polymers per country, polymer and final applications. The project will be presented during the event "The European Plastics Industries - Towards Circularity" on the 11th December 2018 in Brussels.

Let’s work closer together top down with brands and bottom up with SMEs to make the circularity of plastics happen in Europe. Much more needs to be built up in other countries around the world.