The European Recycling Industries’ Confederation (EuRIC, Brussels / Belgium; www.euric-aisbl.eu), an umbrella organisation of associations from 19 EU and EFTA countries, has established the European Plastics Recycling Branch (EPRB). Members of the new organisation are national recycling associations that represent the interests of European companies of all sizes dealing in the collection, processing, recycling and trade of all kinds of plastics, including from end-of-life vehicles, E&E and packaging waste.

“The kick-off of the EPRB comes at a time when plastic is one of the priorities in Europe and globally,” said EuRIC secretary general Emmanuel Katrakis. The many regulatory, technical and economic challenges for the industry as well as end-market uncertainties necessitated a new branch to address these issues, he added.

EPBR will focus mainly on end-of-life durable plastics. It also intends to monitor the implementation of the EU plastics strategy, increase predictability required for long-time investments by improving the interface between EU waste and chemicals laws, facilitate shipments of plastics waste to be recycled in Europe as well as support ecodesign, foster recyclability and develop stable end markets.

The executives of the new branch will be elected among its founding members. These include three Dutch organisations – waste management association DWMA (www.wastematters.eu), waste paper industry federation FNOI (www.fnoi.nl) and metal recycling federation MRF (www.mrf.nl) – as well as two German organisations – the association of secondary materials and waste disposal bvse (www.bvse.de) and metal traders association VDM (www.metallhandel-online.com). The other founding members are the secondary raw materials trade division of the Austrian chamber of commerce WKÖ-Sekundärrohstoffhandel (www.wko.at), Belgian confederation of recovery Coberec (www.coberec.be), French federation of recycling companies Federec (www.federec.com), Italian union of circular economy companies Fise-Unicircular (www.unicircular.org), Spanish federation of recovery and recycling FER (www.recuperacion.org), Switzerland-based, globally operating association Sustainable Recycling Industries (SRI; www.sustainable-recycling.org) and UK-based metals recycling association BMRA (www.recyclemetals.org).