In the wake of China, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam banning the import of most plastics waste – see Plasteurope.com of 05.11.2018 – the European trade association of food packaging manufacturers Pack2Go Europe (Brussels / Belgium; www.pack2go-europe.com) is demanding that the European Commission implement a full “Marshall Plan” to boost local separate collection and recycling. This is part of their initiative “reaching 4 recycling, calling 4 collection” set up in October 2017 – see Plasteurope.com of 04.10.2017. Plastics Recyclers Europe (PRE, Brussels; www.plasticsrecyclers.eu) is also calling for an overhaul of old practices in plastics waste management.

The Asian import bans, from which higher-quality waste is exempt, have highlighted Europe’s recycling deficiencies – electronics waste or even a single diaper can compromise hundreds of kilos of recyclable plastics or paper, and increasing amounts of waste are going to landfill as a stop-gap measure. PRE says claims are surfacing that plastics are becoming too expensive to recycle and that current amounts are more than can be handled, resulting in some municipalities considering collecting plastics with mainstream waste destined in part for waste-to-fuel. This would go against the intended goal of a circular economy.

However, even if the Asian measures were lifted or other countries in the region step up to accept European waste imports, Pack2Go questions how sustainable it is to transport tonnes of waste across the globe for recycling in “questionable circumstances.” Both Pack2Go and PRE are calling for investments in European capacity and the implementation of high-quality collection measures across the EU. While establishing a sustainable waste management system for plastics will at first induce costs, Pack2Go asserts that ultimately, such measures would reduce the cost and increase the efficiency of recycling. In addition, high-quality collection and sorting systems result in high-quality raw materials.

For the collection and separation of resources at source to work, Pack2Go says the EU would have to enforce incentives and disincentives in addition to investing in collection infrastructure and communication, and all parties along the plastics value chain would need to cooperate. This includes municipalities accepting their share of the responsibility, businesses improving the recyclability of their products and consumers being encouraged to follow proper waste disposal procedures and recycling habits.

According to PRE, a high-quality waste management system has both environmental and financial benefits. These include creating a substantial amount of "green" jobs in Europe, producing valuable raw materials and saving scarce natural resources as well as reducing CO₂ emissions.