On 20 September, more than 100 public and private entities signed the European Commission’s “Circular Plastics Alliance” declaration at a “high-level” event in Brussels. The signatories include public and private entities cross the plastics value chain that will join in voluntary actions that promote the use of more recycled plastics in Europe.

The declaration was signed by SMEs, large corporations, industry associations, research organisations and local and national authorities. It contains actions to reach the target including

• improving the design of plastic goods to make them more recyclable and integrate more recyclate
• identifying potential for more plastics waste collection, sorting and recycling across the EU, as well as the investment gaps
• building a research and development agenda for circular plastics
• establishing a transparent and reliable monitoring system to track all plastics waste flows in the EU

Alexandre Dangis, managing director of European Plastics Converters (EuPC, Brussels; www.plasticsconverters.eu), signed on behalf of the Europe's plastics processing industry. Other major bodies signing up include the European Federation for Waste Management and Environmental Services (FEAD, Brussels; www.fead.be) and the European Chemical Industry Council (Cefic, Brussels; www.cefic.org) and the European Plastic Pipe and Fittings Association (TEPPFA, Brussels / Belgium; www.teppfa.eu). The French industry association for plastic and flexible packaging manufacturers Elipso (Paris; www.elipso.org) has also joined up.

The EU commission’s first vice-president, Frans Timmermans, said, “I welcome the industry's commitments to rethink the way we produce and use plastics. By efficiently recycling plastics, we will clean up the planet and fight climate change, by substituting fossil fuels with plastic waste in the production cycle.” Commissioner Elżbieta Bieńkowska added that there is the opportunity to make the industry a world leader in recycled plastics, which can protect the environment, create jobs and keep the sector competitive.

The EU commission launched the alliance at the end of 2018, with the target of getting at least 10m t of recycled plastics on the EU market by 2025 – see Plasteurope.com of 17.12.2018. This followed a preliminary assessment of voluntary pledges the commission received as part of the EU plastics strategy – see Plasteurope.com of 24.01.2018.

The Circular Plastics Alliance declaration remains open for more signatories – sign the declaration here. The commission says public authorities, business associations and companies from across Europe are encouraged to submit voluntary pledges to use or produce more recycled plastics.