Page 25 - Plastics News January 2026
P. 25
ENVIRONMENT NEWS
The Commission presented a draft act that aims expected to help attract investment into new re-
to set EU-wide standards for when recycled cycling technologies.
plastics are considered ready for reuse, creating
a single market for these materials and simplify- Collaboration and next steps
ing procedures for recycling businesses.
The European Commission will relaunch the Cir-
Plastics recycling companies have reported cular Plastics Alliance as a platform for industry
challenges including fluctuating prices for new and governments to work on shared priorities
(“virgin”) plastics and costly energy, leading to a and address key challenges in the plastics value
drop in production capacity and financial losses chain.
in recent years.
European member states will also vote on new
Progress and challenges for plastics recycling rules regarding the recycled content of plastic
bottles in 2025.
The plastics sector could benefit significantly
from circular practices, with research showing Financial support for circular projects is set to
that recycling and reuse could cut its climate-re- increase, with the Commission working closely
lated emissions by 45 percent and improve the with national and European banks to fund re-
sector’s trade balance by €18 billion per year by gional recycling initiatives.
2050, data published by the EU's Joint Research To evaluate progress so far, the Commission has
Centre indicated.
opened a public consultation to assess the im-
Circular economy approaches focus on reduc- pact of the Single-Use Plastics Directive, which
ing waste by recycling and reusing materials, in- was created to reduce the environmental and
stead of relying solely on new resources. health effects of disposable plastics. The consul-
tation will run until March 2026.
To support fair competition, the Commission
plans to introduce separate customs codes for EU figures show that just over 12 percent of ma-
virgin and recycled plastics. terials used in the EU came from recycled sourc-
es in 2024 up by about one percentage point
These new codes would help customs officials since 2015.
and national authorities enforce EU rules relating
to imported plastics. The European Commission intends to propose
a Circular Economy Act by 2026 to further im-
The Commission is also seeking public feedback prove the market for recycled materials and sup-
on rules for single-use plastic beverage bottles port the EU’s goal to become the global leader
and aims to expand opportunities for chemical in circular economy practices by 2030, accord-
recycling a process using chemical methods to ing to its latest statement.
break down plastics, which can complement Source - https://www.brusselstimes.com/
traditional mechanical recycling. Clear rules are
January 2026 PLASTICS NEWS 25
