NGOs call on EU Environmental Ministers to Stop the Plastic Flood
BlogHEJSupport cosigned a joint NGO letter to the Environment Ministers of the EU Member States urging them to take a decisive stand against plastic waste –hazardous to human health and the environment.
NGOs highlight that the plastic crisis must be stopped at its source in order to solve the associated risks to human health, environment and climate. To achieve this, the EU waste hierarchy must be implemented in a consistent manner, which can only be done through binding waste prevention targets, reusable quotas and minimum input quantities for recycles. We need to move away from burning and landfilling plastic. Environmentally friendly and healthy reusable systems, such as reusable beverage bottles, coffee-to-go cups and transport packaging, are being introduced in more and more EU countries. These solutions provide a way to avert the plastic waste crisis and must be promoted throughout the EU.
In the letter, NGOs note that public procurement has a critical role to play in achieving a circular economy. EU comprehensive, mandatory requirements for the purchase of reusable packaging, remanufactured products and those which are made from recycled materials, should be established. We call on you and the Environment Council to highlight these requirements in the conclusions for the Circular Economy Action Plan.
In order to achieve a non-toxic circular economy, hazardous chemicals should no longer be present in plastics. Recycled plastics should be subject to the same requirements regarding chemicals content as virgin materials. Therefore, we ask you to support the swift implementation of the measures proposed as part of the EU Chemicals Strategy for Sustainability, and to ensure the complementarity and consistency of action undertaken under the different strategies and action plans of the European Green Deal.
