With a view of highlighting the role and commitment of public authorities in the fight against plastic waste, ACR+ signed the declaration of the Circular Plastics Alliance. Nonetheless, the network deems this declaration a first step and calls for more concrete action.

Brussels, Belgium – On 20 September 2019, ACR+ president Iain Gulland signed on behalf of the network the declaration of the Circular Plastics Alliance. Together with the other signatories, representing more than 100 public and private partners covering the whole plastics value chain, ACR+ committed to promote voluntary actions for a well-functioning EU market in recycled plastics.

Set-up at the end of 2018 by the European Commission in the context of the European Plastics Strategy, the alliance aims to reach the target of 10 million tonnes of recycled plastic used to make new products every year in Europe, by 2025. The declaration signed in Brussels specifies concrete actions to reach the target, including the identification of untapped potential for more plastic waste collection, sorting and recycling across the EU.

By joining the alliance, ACR+ not only endorses the call for a shift to zero plastic waste in nature and zero landfilling but also extols the role of public authorities, both at national and local level, as key players in the transition to a circular economy. Besides delivering recycling and reuse services, public authorities are also those engaging with citizens and inspiring them for greater action.

ACR+ acknowledges the efforts made by the European Commission, with the launch of this alliance, to gather all actors and will work with the other signatories to deliver quick successful results. However, this declaration can only be seen as a beginning, more concrete action is needed. ACR+ particularly advocates for decarbonization and for setting mandatory engagement in addition to voluntary measures. Although prevention is not in the scope of the Circular Plastics Alliance, ACR+ reminds that in the plastic chain, as for other streams, this should come first. 

For already 25 years ACR+ is supporting cities and regions achieving a more sustainable use of resources on their territories through projects on the field, documenting and sharing data and good practices on prevention and recycling. It is active in several European-funded projects such as COLLECTORS[i] or URBANREC[ii] that aim at improving source separation of plastic waste, but also understand how their use as secondary raw materials can be optimised. ACR+ has also been collaborating with various stakeholders of extended producer responsibility schemes within the EPR Club[iii].

 

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[i] The H2020 COLLECTORS project aims to identify and highlight existing good practices of waste collection and sorting in relation to three waste streams: paper and packaging waste, waste electrical and electronic equipment, and construction and demolition waste. It already reached a first milestone with the launch of a waste platform containing information about 242 waste collection systems from 24 countries. The second phase of the project, which assesses the performance of waste collection systems through case studies, is already well underway with twelve case studies currently analysed from an economic, environmental, societal acceptance and value chain perspective.

[ii] The H2020 URBANREC project aims to develop and implement an eco-innovative and integral bulky waste management system (enhancing prevention, improving logistics and allowing new waste treatments to obtain high added value recycled products) and demonstrate its effectiveness in different regions. In particular, it looked at innovative valorisation routes for plastics from bulky waste, e.g. PUR foam, mixed hard plastics. Results will be presented during a final conference on 6-7 November 2019 in Brussels.

[iii] The EPR Club is a multi-stakeholder platform for exchange of knowledge and dissemination of good EPR practices amongst key European stakeholders and experts. The aim is to foster dialogue on policy developments and technical implementation of EPR schemes in order to bring forward European legislation and policy on EPR.


 

Contact: 
ACR+ Secretariat - Gaëlle Colas
E-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.  
Tel: +32 2 234 65 00

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