A surprise announcement was made at the recent European Plastics Recyclers (Brussels / Belgium) annual meeting held in Brussels on 21 and 22 November 2012. The 160 attendees of the two-day event, devoted to “Resource Efficiency for Plastics”, got to enjoy the countdown to the association’s rebranding itself as Plastics Recyclers Europe (EuPR; www.plasticsrecyclers.eu). The new name and image reflect “the positive changes in the European plastics recycling industry”, the group said, adding that it is supposed to emphasise the sector’s current transformations, including on-going development, improvement and growth.

While the first day of the annual meeting was devoted to internal discussions within EuPR’s working groups, on day two the association hosted a conference and panel discussion that featured a range of high-profile speakers (Plasteurope.com has attached the speeches given during the morning session below). The common thread connecting the various presentations – including speeches by the European Commission’s Soledad Blanco, EEB’s Stephane Arditi and Coca-Cola’s Klaus Stadler – was boosting plastics recycling and improving existing waste management systems. Commenting on this common goal, EuPR’s president Ton Emans said, “We should push plastics recycling for higher targets in order to improve Europe’s efficiency and in order to better manage our own resources.”

Aside from its new corporate identity, EuPR also presented its updated strategy paper at the event, in which it calls for a three-pronged approach to boosting plastics recycling and increasing resource efficiency. In a first step, EuPR argues that EU member states should ban all plastics waste from landfill. Such a move needs to be coupled with higher plastics recycling targets. Last but not least, already in the conception stage of a new product its eco-design and potential recyclability need to be taken into account, the association said.

The new strategy paper includes several data on Europe’s plastics recycling industry. More than 1,000 companies engage in mechanical recycling on the continent, employing about 30,000 workers, EuPR says. Presenting 2011 data, the paper states that 25.1m t of post-consumer plastic waste were collected last year, a 2.4% year-on-year increase over 2010. The biggest contribution, EuPR says, was made by plastic packaging – for more details, see also Plasteurope.com of 15.11.2012. The overall recovery rate rose by 4.8% last year, while mechanical recycling activities were up 5.7% and energy recovery by 4.2%.

e-Service:
Plastics Recyclers Europe strategy paper on “How to boost plastics recycling and increase resource efficiency” as a PDF document
Ton Emans’ presentation “More with less: EuPR strategy to push plastics recycling” as a PDF document
Soledad Blanco’s presentation “Plastic waste and resource efficiency – an emerging challenge” as a PDF document
Stephane Arditi’s presentation “Boosting plastics recycling for a resource efficient economy” as a PDF document
Klaus Stadler’s presentation “The Coca-Cola plantbottle: Green and resource-efficient” as a PDF document