Civil society calls upon the Commission to uphold ambition on SUP Directive
PlasticsHEJSupport, among other NGOs, sent a letter to the EU Commission to support the most recent version of the SUP Directive Guidelines.
To:
Executive Vice – President Frans Timmermans
& Mr Virginijus Sinkevičius, Commissioner for Environment, Oceans and Fisheries European Commission
Rue de la Loi / Wetstraat 200
1049 Brussels
1 February 2021, Brussels,
Objects: Civil society calls on you to uphold ambition on single-use plastics Dear Executive Vice-President,
Dear Commissioner,
We, the undersigned organisations from across Europe representing millions of citizens, would like to express our strong support for the most recent version of the Single Use Plastics (SUP) Directive Guidelines.(1) These guidelines hold true to the spirit of the Directive, and maintain the necessary ambition required to tackle plastic pollution.
The SUP Directive (2) is a landmark piece of legislation that will deliver a critically important reduction in plastic pollution if timely and ambitiously implemented across Europe. It will support a transition to sustainable products, including reusable products and packaging, and contribute greatly to Europe’s circular economy and Zero Pollution agenda.
In the past days, the European Parliament ENVI Committee called for further measures to phase-out single-use plastics, notably the substitution of single-use packaging and tableware (3) with reusable options. Only strong measures on single-use plastics will allow sustainable solutions and new business models to blossom, consistently with a circular and resilient economy and a just transition.
The urgently needed transition to circular products and systems is widely supported across Europe. In 2018, more than half a million people called for strong action to reduce the use of single-useplastics; (4) thiswasfurtherechoedinacallfortheCommissiontoensurethatSUP guidelines (5) be consistent with the ambition of the Directive.
EU citizens are already appealing for even greater action against plastic pollution and single-use plastics, but today we are grateful to see your determination in ensuring that the Directive be implemented in full, thanks to these guidelines, and we urge you to maintain this ambition. We stand with you in support.
Yours sincerely,
1) Draft version of the 16th of December discussed with the Member States on 19th of January
2) Directive (EU) 2019/904 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 5 June 2019 on the reduction of the impact of certain plastic products on the environment
3) (2020/2077INI) ENVI Committee own initiative report on the Circular Economy Action Plan
4) https://act.wemove.eu/campaigns/plastics-strategy-INT-EN
5) https://act.wemove.eu/campaigns/plastic-ban
