ACEA

EU recycling definition gets thumbs-up from industry sectors

Brussels, 29/06/2007- The European plastics and automotive industries joined forces today in support of legislation that will further encourage innovation in recycling technologies. The move comes in response to the endorsement by the Environment Council yesterday evening of a ‘broad definition’ of recycling, as part of the proposed revision of the EU Waste Framework Directive

The Environment Council session is the latest in a series of steps towards a revision of the EU Waste Framework Directive, of which the definition of recycling is a critical and much debated component. In February, the European
Parliament voted for a narrow recycling definition, contradicting the EU goal to become a ‘recycling society’. The automotive and plastics industries share the view that a broad definition of recycling – to include both ‘mechanical’
and ‘feedstock’ recycling – is essential if investment by companies in developing new recycling technologies and bringing them to market is to continue.

Jan-Erik Johansson, Advocacy Director of PlasticsEurope, said: “The Plastics Industry has long called for a broad definition of recycling. Industry has invested considerably over many years in innovative, eco-efficient waste
management technologies. Narrowing down the recycling definition would take away the most important incentive for many stakeholders, including our members, to keep using and investing in these environmentally-beneficial technologies.” Wilfried Haensel, Executive Director of PlasticsEurope, added: “It’s important that industries fromdifferent sectors stand together on recycling. Climate protection and the efficient use of resources are some of the
critical issues of our time, and we will only succeed if we work collaboratively – throughout industry and with other stakeholders, such as the politicians who are writing this legislation.”

This perspective is shared by ACEA, the European Automobile Manufacturers' Association. “We believe that only a broad and consistent recycling definition, as proposed by the EU Commission, will create the legal certainty needed to ensure the development, investment and operation of innovative recycling plants”, said Urbain Vandermeulen, Director Environmental Policy. “The endorsement by the Environment Council is a positive move in helping our members protect the environment, through continuing the many innovative recycling initiatives in which they have been involved.”

Editor’s Notes

Many industries take the view that, in line with the principle of substitution of resources, the term ‘recycling’ should be broad enough to encompass feedstock as well as mechanical recycling. Plastics belong to the family of carbon-based materials in which more than 100 000 substances have been successfully commercialised. A broad recycling definition acknowledges the innovative potential of carbon-based chemistry. Polymers can be recycled into polymers without fundamentally changing the chemical structure: This is called mechanical recycling. Unlike alternative materials, plastics offer an additional level of recycling, e.g. by breaking down the polymer into its elementary chemical building blocks, such as monomers and other chemical intermediates, which can be used to either produce new materials similar to the original or for other purposes. This ‘feedstock recycling’ is an integral part of many vital industrial processes, for example in the production of metals in blast furnaces or smelters. End-of-Life plastics can be used for making synthesis gas, which then can substitute coal or oil as feedstock in these processes, where they act as a reducing agent to produce metals from ore. In case of mixed plastic waste this can be more eco-efficient than mechanical recycling.

PlasticsEurope represents the plastics manufacturers in Europe. The association has more than 60 member companies, producing over 90% of polymers across the 27 EU member states plus, Croatia, Norway, Switzerland and Turkey. The plastics chain in Europe - including converters and machinery manufacturers - employs over 1.6 million people. The combined turnover of our industry is in excess of 160 billion euro per annum. PlasticsEurope operates from six decentralised offices: one in Brussels and five regional centres located in France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the UK. www.plasticseurope.org

ACEArepresents the thirteen major European car, truck and bus manufacturers. They provide direct employment to 2.3 million people and support the job of another 10 million employees. Members are: BMW Group, DAF Trucks, DaimlerChrysler, FIAT, Ford of Europe, General Motors Europe, MAN Nutzfahrzeuge, Porsche, PSA Peugeot Citroën, Renault, Scania, Volkswagen and Volvo Trucks. http://www.acea.be

Go back