InitiativesEuropean Parliament Proposes New Measures to Boost Plastics Recycling

Initiatives

13 Sep

European Parliament Proposes New Measures to Boost Plastics Recycling

Strasbourg – Members of the European parliament adopted, Thursday in Strasbourg, a draft resolution providing for measures aimed at boosting plastics recycling and tackling marine litter.

The text includes incentives to collect marine litter at sea, new EU-wide standards and definitions for biodegradability and compostability, in addition to a complete EU ban on oxo-degradable plastic by 2020.

As part of this resolution, MEPs advocate creating a genuine single market for recycled plastics, and urge member States to consider reducing the VAT on products containing recycled materials.

They also call for banning micro-plastics in cosmetics and cleaning products by 2020.

Furthermore, the MEPs underline the important role that fishermen could play, in particular by collecting plastic waste from the sea during their fishing activity and bringing it back to port. The Commission and member States should incentivise this activity, they say.

According to the European Commission, only 30% of plastic waste is collected for recycling, while only 6% of plastic placed on the market is made from recycled materials. Plastic accounts for 85 % of beach litter and over 80 % of marine litter.

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