EuPC says it regrets to read that the European Commission has put forward the proposal for a Directive on the reduction of the impact of certain plastic products on the environment, that mainly targets single use plastics and fishing gear.
EuPC believes the proposal contains a definition of single use products, which is misleading and does not reflect industrial classification represents.
Almost each Member State in Europe has implemented discretionally the Bags Directive, leading to a proliferation of rules and labeling requirements.
EuPc believes the proposed solutions do not match the existing rationale of the Plastics Strategy and the Voluntary Commitments put forward by the plastics industry.
Stating on one side, the Commission calls for LCAs to assess environmental options, then restricts or bans certain products made of plastics without analysing which option would be the most sustainable.
Features highlighted are the detachment from the recently revised Packaging and Packaging Waste Directive, expanding agreed EPR schemes and deposit schemes, EPR schemes on producers aimed at covering the costs of marine litter and incentives to develop less polluting alternatives for these products.
The obligations for producers to cover the costs of waste management and clean-up, as well as awareness raising measures is based, for the Commission, on the polluter pays principle, assuming producers are vicariously responsible for littering behaviours.
Alexandre Dangis, EuPC Director, said: “The timing is totally wrong. At a moment where the EU Commission is asking the industry to pledge or commit to more use of recycled plastics materials, it is also asking to ban certain recyclable products. This is a wrong signal, which will maintain the levels of landfill in the EU that we have today if European waste laws are not properly implemented.”
The present proposal is accompanied by a new public consultation that will be open to all stakeholders until the 23rd July 2018.
The proposal will be sent to the European Parliament and the Council for examination to start the legislative work, with the expected date for the final adoption in the second half of 2019.
