ECHA drafts restriction proposals for oxo-degradable plastics and microplastics to support European Commission’s plastics strategy
January 23, 2018
State of raw materials in the circular economy
New JRC report analyses state-of-play for critical raw materials in the EU, finds current use “far from being fully circular,” discusses opportunities for improvement and future actions for aligning with circular economy principles
January 17, 2018
EU plastics strategy published
European Commission adopts EU-wide strategy for plastics in the circular economy, aims to make all plastic packaging recyclable, reduce single-use plastics, ban intentional microplastics
January 12, 2018
WRAP and Ellen MacArthur to tackle plastics in UK
Ellen MacArthur Foundation and UK’s Waste and Resources Action Program announce initiative to tackle plastics in the UK; focus on plastic packaging; aim to eliminate single-use plastics, boost recycling, mobilize citizens
January 10, 2018
A single polymer for food packaging?
UK retailer Marks and Spencer considers using only one polymer group for plastic food packaging to improve recyclability; PET and PEF possible options
January 8, 2018
EU legislation on waste
Council of the European Union and EU Parliament provisionally agree on EU Commission’s proposals for revision of EU waste legislation; introduce new binding targets for packaging waste recycling, define requirements for extended producer responsibility
December 19, 2017
PET collection and recycling growing in Europe
Nearly 60% of PET bottles on European market collected for recycling in 2016, according to Petcore Europe report; detailed survey results to be discussed at 2018 Petcore Europe conference
November 27, 2017
EU plastics industry commits to circular economy
European plastic industry associations support re-use and recycling goals of EU Commission’s Circular Economy Package, call for separate collection of packaging waste
November 22, 2017
Conference: Sustainability in packaging
Smithers Pira held “Sustainability in Packaging Europe” event on October 24-26, 2017 in Barcelona; speakers addressed plastic and packaging waste, packaging design, food waste, packaging machinery, and food brands’ activities
November 21, 2017
New technology for chemical recycling of PET
EU-funded project DEMETO develops industrial-scale process to chemically break down PET to its building blocks and reintroduce them at the virgin-grade production stage
