Europe: Chemical Recycling Cefic Signs Declaration of Circular Plastics Alliance

The Circular Plastics Alliance aims at putting back 10 million tonnes of recycled plastic into products by 2025. For this purpose, Cefic will increase chemical recycling in the European Union as it will play an important role for recycling plastics.

Brussels/Belgium – By signing the Declaration of the Circular Plastics Alliance, the European Chemical Industry Council (Cefic) joins the EU-wide voluntary movement to increase recycling and the uptake of recycled plastics in the EU by 2025.

The chemical industry can play a leading role in increasing the amount of recycled plastic by scaling up the chemical recycling technology.

Approximately 15 % of the plastic waste generated in the EU currently finds its way back into the EU market, and the only recycling technology available now at large scale is mechanical recycling. But not all types of plastic waste can be efficiently tackled by mechanical recycling. Other technologies, including chemical recycling, are needed to increase the amount of recycled plastic.

Cefic President Daniele Ferrari: “Chemical recycling is a game changer for plastic recycling as it means that more types of plastics can be transformed into new material. Scaling up this technology will make Europe the global leader in circular economy solutions. Complementing mechanical with chemical recycling will be essential to solve the EU plastic waste problem and achieve the Alliance’s target of having 10 million tonnes of recycled plastic put back into products by 2025.”

Chemical recycling can process mixed or contaminated plastic waste and break it down into valuable building blocks for new chemical products, including plastics. The cycle can be repeated all over again, which means that no plastic will end up in a landfill. Chemical recycling will also be an important step in managing legacy chemicals in waste.

The Declaration has also been signed by more than 90 other EU trade associations, companies and public authorities and members states involved in the plastics value chains.

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