There is a strong business case for transforming the way products are designed, produced, used, and recycled and by taking the lead in this transition, EU will create new investment opportunities and jobs. Under the new plans, all plastic packaging on the EU market will be recyclable by 2030, the consumption of single-use plastics will be reduced and the intentional use of microplastics will be restricted.

Every year, Europeans generate 25 million tonnes of plastic waste. Across the world, plastics make up 85% of beach litter. And plastics are even reaching citizens' lungs and dinner tables, with microplastics. Between 75.000 and 300.000 tonnes of microplastics are released into the environment each year in the EU in air, water and food having an unknown impact on their health. Building on the Commission's past work, the new EU-wide strategy on plastics will tackle the issue head on.

In the EU, the potential for recycling plastic waste remains largely unexploited. Reuse and recycling of end-of-life plastics is very low, particularly in comparison with other materials such as paper, glass or metals.

Less than 30% of such waste is collected for recycling. At the same time, landfilling and incineration rates of plastic waste remain high  31 % and 39 %, respectively  and while landfill has decreased over the past decade, incineration has grown. According to estimates, 95 % of the value of plastic packaging material, i.e. between EUR 70 and 105 billion annually, is lost to the economy after a very short first-use cycle. In addition, It was estimated that plastics production and the incineration of plastic waste give rise globally to approximately 400 million tonnes of CO2 a year. 

Using more recycled plastics can reduce dependence on the extraction of fossil fuels for plastics production and curb CO2 emissions. According to estimates, the potential annual energy savings that could be achieved from recycling all global plastic waste is equivalent to 3.5 billion barrels of oil per year.

So far, Horizon 2020 has provided more than €250 million to finance R&D in areas of direct relevance for the Strategy. Until 2020, an additional €100 million have been devoted to financing priority actions under this strategy, including on the development of smarter and more recyclable plastics materials, more efficient recycling processes and the removal of hazardous substances and contaminants from recycled plastics.Finally, the Commission will develop a Strategic Research and Innovation Agenda on plastics to provide guidance for future research and innovation funding after 2020.

European Structural and Investment Funds, in particular cohesion policy funds, also make a key contribution to developing EU recycling capacity, including the recycling of plastics. From 2014 to 2020, over EUR 5.5 billion has been allocated for improving waste management. This is expected notably to result in an increase of 5.8 million tonnes per year in waste recycling capacity. The European Fund for Strategic Investment (EFSI) can also play an important part, for instance by supporting greater integration of the value chain and projects for closed-loop plastics recycling. The recently launched ‘Circular Economy Finance Support Platform’ will help raise awareness among investors and facilitate access to finance for circular economy projects.

For information on how B2EU Consulting could support your organisation in developing a funding strategy and in unlocking different financing tools for your operation in the green sector, please don’t hesitate to contact us at: info@b2eu-consulting.com.