Although the recycling rates for plastic waste are steadily increasing and landfilling keeps decreasing, around 65% of the post-consumer plastic waste collected in Europe is still sent to landfill or incineration . To support the transition of the European plastics systems towards higher circularity and to deliver higher quantities and qualities of recycled plastics, more plastic waste needs to be recovered from waste streams so that it can be recycled.

The PPWR proposal could serve as a catalyst to transform the plastics packaging industry by ensuring recyclability, increasing the uptake of circular plastics and kick-starting reuse in many packaging applications. To this end, the legislation should create the positive investment climate to incentivise the European plastics system to continue its sustainability transition.

For UNEA Resolution 5/14,’ end plastic pollution: towards an international legally binding instrument’, Plastics Europe supports the overarching objective to end plastic pollution by 2040 through a circular economy.

In 2020, 35% of the post-consumer plastics waste collected in Europe were sent to recycling (inside and outside the EU), while the remaining quantities were sent to landfilling (23%) and energy recovery (42%). Almost 90% of the waste sent to recycling (9.1 Mt) were treated in Europe (EU27+3) to produce 5.5 million tonnes of recyclates. Besides, the average recycled content in European plastic products has amounted to 8.5%, ranging from 2.9% in automotive or E&E sectors to 22.8% in agriculture applications.