The non-profit association PolyREC announced today that the value chain initiatives Polyolefin Circular Economy Platform (PCEP), Styrenics Circular Solutions (SCS) and European Manufacturers of Expanded Polystyrene (EUMEPS) have joined members Petcore Europe, PlasticsEurope, Plastics Recyclers Europe, and VinylPlus to support the setup of a harmonised, pan-European data collection system for both, plastics recyclers and converters, to record their recycling volumes and use of recycled material.
PolyREC now brings together data collection knowledge and expertise from Europe’s plastics manufacturers and recyclers as well as the full Polyvinyl chloride (PVC), Polyester (PET), Polyolefin (PO), Polystyrene (PS) and Expanded Polystyrene (EPS) value chains. Such expanded industry representation will ensure the recorded recycled plastics data is comprehensive, consistent and comparable across polymers and sectors.
“Joining PolyREC and co-creating a polyolefin (PO) branch for RecoTraceTM is an important contribution to PCEP’s circular polyolefin mission and fulfils our commitment as a Circular Plastics Alliance signatory to establish a transparent and trusted monitoring system that ensures traceability of recycled plastics. Recording real world circularity of PO also allows us to monitor progress towards the ambitious commitments of the polyolefin industry to increase the uptake of recycled post-consumer PO”.
Venetia Spencer, Former Secretary General of PCEP
“Data plays a central role in the circular economy, accelerating uptake of quality secondary raw materials by establishing trust throughout the system. We all need improved metrics to monitor progress towards circularity, to underpin investment decisions and to support compliance with current and future policies. PCEP is pleased to have joined this partnership to enable recyclers and users of recycled PO with an easy-to-use database to deliver these improved metrics. We welcome more members to accelerate progress together.”
Venetia Spencer, Former Secretary General of PCEP
“Styrenics Circular Solutions is delighted to join PolyREC. This initiative is crucial in monitoring, verifying and reporting plastics recycling via RecoTraceTM, the innovative common data collection system. The styrenics value chain is fully behind this drive to ensure traceability, transparency, and trust in recycled materials, especially within the context of meeting the objectives of the Circular Plastics Alliance (CPA) and supporting the EU’s 2025 recycling targets with verified recycled materials”.
Jens Kathmann, Secretary-General of Styrenics Circular Solutions
“Today is a great day for EUMEPS. Our accession to PolyREC makes me very happy as it is a big step forward towards more transparency. The system will help us to showcase that EPS is already widely collected and recycled, far beyond what is generally recognized. Joining PolyREC will allow our sector to collect more data and to improve recycling rates even more. The verified and monitored set of data will enable us to improve existing recycling schemes and better trace waste streams.”
Jürgen Lang, Managing Director of EUMEPS
PolyREC and its members encourage contribution of data from all companies involved in the recycling and use of recycled material to help establish the most robust overview possible of the European recycled plastics market.
All interested parties can visit PolyREC’s website www.polyrec.eu to learn more about its collaborative work or contact PolyREC’s team directly.
For additional information, contact:
| EUMEPS | j.lang@eumeps.org |
| Petcore Europe | christian.crepet@petcore-europe.org |
| Plastics Europe | virginia.janssens@plasticseurope.org |
| Plastics Recyclers Europe | emilia.tarlowska@plasticsrecyclers.eu |
| Polyolefin Circular Economy Platform | petya.todorova@pcep.eu |
| Styrenics Circular Solutions | jens.kathmann@styrenics-circular-solutions.com |
| VinylPlus® | brigitte.dero@vinylplus.eu |
About:
EUMEPS
EUMEPS is the association and voice of the European Manufacturers of Expanded Polystyrene (EPS). Its members cover the entire EPS value chain from raw material suppliers to EPS converters and recyclers as well as supporting industries including machinery and additive suppliers. Members include individual companies as well as 22 European national EPS associations. This unique representation of the entire value chain ensures that EUMEPS represents both large companies and small- and medium-sized converters and recyclers.
Altogether its membership represents more than 1,000 companies, most of them small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), and employs more than 80,000 people. www.eumeps.org
Petcore Europe
Petcore Europe is the PET Value Chain association that promotes PET circularity. With more than 100 members, Petcore Europe is active in bottles, thermoforms, monomer recycling, deposit, reuse etc. with its Working Groups, where members have a very active role. Petcore Europe has also a Tray Recycling Evaluation Platform and is one of the founding members of the European Pet Bottle Platform that both establish recycling guidelines and evaluate recyclability of thermoforms and bottles. www.petcore-europe.org
Plastics Europe
Plastics Europe is the pan-European association of plastics manufacturers with offices across Europe. For over 100 years, science and innovation has been the DNA that cuts across our industry. With close to 100 members producing over 90% of all polymers across Europe, we are the catalyst for the industry with a responsibility to openly engage with stakeholders and deliver solutions which are safe, circular and sustainable. We are committed to implementing long-lasting positive change. www.plasticseurope.org
Plastics Recyclers Europe
Plastics Recyclers Europe (PRE) is an organization representing the voice of the European plastics recyclers who reprocess plastic waste into high-quality material destined for the production of new articles. Recyclers are important facilitators of the circularity of plastics and the transition towards the circular economy. Plastics recycling in Europe is a rapidly growing sector representing over €3 billion in turnover, 8.5 million tonnes of installed recycling capacity, 600 companies and over 20.000 employees. www.plasticsrecyclers.eu
Polyolefin Circular Economy Platform
The Polyolefin Circular Economy Platform (PCEP) is a forum for all organisations and stakeholders in the polyolefin value chain to exchange ideas, showcase projects and work together to maximise innovation and value, so advancing the circular economy. PCEP is committed to transforming from a linear to a circular economy based on three principles; designing out waste; keeping products and materials in use; and recycling into high-quality new raw materials. www.pcep.eu
Styrenics Circular Solutions
Styrenics Circular Solutions is the value chain initiative to increase the circularity of styrenics. The initiative engages the entire value chain in the development and industrialisation of new recycling technologies and solutions. It aims to strengthen the sustainability of styrenic products while improving resource efficiency within the Circular Economy. www.styrenics-circular-solutions.com
VinylPlus®
VinylPlus is the Voluntary Commitment to sustainable development of the European PVC industry. The VinylPlus programme was developed through open dialogue with stakeholders, including industry, NGOs, regulators, civil society representatives and PVC users. Its regional scope is the EU-27 plus Norway, Switzerland and the UK. VinylPlus is registered as a SMART partnership on the United Nations Partnerships for Sustainable Development Goals Platform. www.vinylplus.eu