FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Brussels, 3/07/2018

EU countries lag behind in phasing out single-use plastic bags and curbing plastic pollution, warned Surfrider Foundation Europe and Zero Waste Europe on the 9th International Plastic Bag Free Day.

According to the report Still Finding Excuses? Time for Europe to act against plastic bag pollution, released today by SFE with contributions from ZWE [1], on the implementation of the EU legislation on plastic bag reduction adopted in 2015, more than 18 months after the deadline for transposition the measures adopted remain largely insufficient in many Member States.

Justine Maillot, European Affairs Officer at Surfrider Foundation Europe, said: “In too many EU countries the measures adopted so far are at best half-hearted. There is no excuse for further delay. Governments must raise their level of ambition to match the urgency of the plastic pollution crisis and the concerns of EU citizens” [2].

Rather than banning single-use plastic bags, most countries have opted for either voluntary agreements with the retailers or for a charge on lightweight carrier plastic bags, which in some countries will only come into effect next year. Although a tax can have an impact on consumers behaviour, ZWE and SFE highlight how phasing out single-use plastic bags will require a restriction on the supply side. In addition, in many countries the charge is often too low, or limited to too few retailers, to really spur change. A lack of control and enforcement is also hindering real change on the ground.

“The lack of ambition from many governments is at odds with the commitments to tackle plastic pollution worldwide, and with the “race to the top” called for by the European Commission”, said Ariadna Rodrigo, Product Policy Campaigner at Zero Waste Europe [3]. For ZWE and SFE, this is also a missed opportunity, as where ambitious measures, such as bans, have been implemented, they have been successful in reducing plastic bags consumption and largely supported by citizens [4].

The report also highlights concerns regarding the exemption from any tax or restriction for very lightweight plastic bags, as well as bio-based and biodegradable bags. ZWE and SFE highlight how this constitutes a major contradiction in the fight against plastic bag pollution and throw-away culture, and emphasise that existing reusable alternatives, such as tote bags or baskets, must be prioritised.

SFE and ZWE, as members of the Break Free From Plastic global movement [5], call on Member States to urgently implement  the EU Plastic Bag Directive and put an end to plastic bag pollution, in line with the EU strategy on plastics and the promotion of a true circular economy.

Zero Waste Europe calls now on Member States to promptly transpose the adopted safeguards and to exclude any support for fuels from plastic, so as to ensure compliance with EU legislation.

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NOTES:

[1] Still Finding Excuses? Time for Europe to act against plastic bag pollution, 2018, Surfrider Foundation Europe

[2] Eurobarometer October 2017 shows that 87% of EU citizens are worried about the impact of plastic on the environmenthttp://ec.europa.eu/commfrontoffice/publicopinion/index.cfm/ResultDoc/download/DocumentKy/81259

[3] European strategy on plastics in a circular economy, published on 16 January 2018;

Proposal for a directive on the reduction of the impact of certain plastic products on the environment, published on 28 May 2018

Early June, the Indian government pledged to ban all single-use plastics by 2022.

[4] In Italy, since the introduction of the ban in 2011, the consumption of plastic bags has reduced by more than 50%.

[5] Break Free From Plastic is a global movement envisioning a future free from plastic pollution. Since its launch in September 2016, over 1,279 groups from across the world have joined the movement to demand massive reductions in single-use plastics and to push for lasting solutions to the plastic pollution crisis. These organisations share the common values of environmental protection and social justice, which guide their work at the community level and represent a global, unified vision.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Brussels, 28/05/2018

The European Commission has taken a leap forward in tackling plastic pollution, with new laws to reduce throwaway single-use plastics.

Speaking on behalf of Rethink Plastic, the Environmental Investigation Agency’s Sarah Baulch said: “The Commission has awakened to the call of European citizens to address the devastating impacts of plastic pollution on our environment. Phasing out unnecessary single-use plastic applications and those for which a sustainable alternative is already available is key to ensure a responsible use of plastics.”

The proposal, which is designed to prevent and reduce the impact of certain plastic products on the environment, and in particular the marine environment, sets a number of different policy measures to tackle these problematic single-use products, from bans and reduction efforts, to labelling and extended producer responsibility schemes [1].

However, the legislation fails to set specific EU-wide reduction targets for food containers and beverage cups, with a promise to look into this possibility only after a lengthy six years after transposition (circa 2027). This could result in countries claiming they are taking the necessary steps as long as any reduction is achieved, regardless of how small.

The same time period is also given for a review of the list of products the legislation addresses, with the possibility to expand it. This is vital to shorten to three years after transposition rather than six.

Baulch said: “Given the urgency and scale of the problem, the lack of specific reduction targets for Member States is alarming. We call on the European Parliament and EU Ministers to put in place such targets and set a shorter review period to ensure an effective and swift move beyond single-use plastics.”

The European Parliament and the Council of EU ministers will discuss and amend the legislative proposal in the coming months.

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NOTES:
[1] The range of legislative measures includes:

•  – A ban on single-use plastic straws, cutlery and plates, cotton buds and balloon sticks
• – A requirement to achieve ‘significant’ reductions in the consumption of plastic food containers and cups within 6 years, through measures such as national consumption reduction targets, minimum reusable packaging targets, or ensuring such items are not provided free of charge
•  – A 2025 target of 90% separate collection of plastic bottles, to be achieved through Extended Producer Responsibility schemes or the implementation of deposit return schemes
•  – Detailed labelling on sanitary towels, wet wipes and balloons informing citizens of the negative environmental impact of inappropriate disposal
•  – The introduction of Extended Producer Responsibility schemes for waste fishing gear, cigarette butts, beverage containers including lids and caps, food containers, lightweight plastic bags and wet wipes amongst others.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Brussels, 02/05/2018

The European Commission has announced a plan to tax non-recycled plastic packaging waste today within the new EU budget – but this will fail to address the plastic pollution crisis, say the Rethink Plastic alliance.

The proposal, unveiled in the Multiannual Financial Framework, focuses on taxing the quantity of plastic packaging waste generated in each Member State that is not recycled, but does not include any incentive to encourage the reduction of plastic at source, nor for improved collection. Rather than making polluters pay by internalising the costs of plastic waste, Member States – hence taxpayers – will have to foot the bill for companies that continue to place plastics that are non-recyclable, or can only be downcycled to a lower value, on the market.

Surfrider Foundation Europe’s Justine Maillot, speaking on behalf of the Rethink Plastic, said: “With this tax, the Commission is going against the principles of the waste hierarchy, by prioritising recycling over prevention and reuse”.

Such an “end of life” economic incentive fails to tackle the existing obstacles to a circular economy for plastics, such as the low price of crude oil, encouraging companies to meet their supply chain demands with virgin plastic.

“Any tax on plastic should be applied to virgin plastic production, to make the price of recycled plastic competitive. It is high time the Commission starts creating the right economic incentives for companies to truly implement circular economy legislation through better product and packaging design”, added Justine Maillot.

The tax as it is designed also presents the following flaws:

• It only covers plastic packaging, which represents just 40% of plastics placed on the market, and does not address all single-use plastic items of high pollution potential.
• It relies on the information made available by producers via Extended Producer Responsibility schemes, where the data collected is not independently verified. In some cases, clear lack of data robustness has been detected [1].
• Even if Member States meet the new plastic packaging recycling target of 55% by 2030 (as stipulated in the Packaging and Packaging Waste Directive), they will still have to pay the tax.
• There is no current definition of what is a recyclable plastic and what is not, hence leaving the door open for Member States to report what is recycled and not, as they wish.
• The revenues raised will contribute to stimulate investment in recycling facilities – whilst this is important, the primary aim should be to stimulate investment further up the waste hierarchy such as plastic waste prevention measures and reuse systems.

For a plastic tax to truly disincentivise plastic pollution at source, the European Commission must design a tax at the EU-level on virgin plastics production.

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NOTES:
[1] The latest Member State where irregularities have been detected is the UK, but many other cases have been highlighted over the years. Eunomia (2018), Plastic packaging – shedding light on the UK data

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Brussels, April 10th 2018

A rise in plastic food packaging is failing to reduce Europe’s growing food waste problem, and in some cases may even be fueling it, according to pioneering new research. [1]

The study shows how annual per-capita use of plastic packaging has grown simultaneously with levels of food waste since the 1950s – now at 30kg and 173kg respectively. [2]

The review of available evidence published by Friends of the Earth Europe and Zero Waste Europe, on behalf of the Rethink Plastic alliance, also reveals that:

• Big retailers are driving food and plastic packaging waste in Europe through practices such as food grading standards, and packaging food in multipacks and small format packs. One study showed that chopping green beans to fit plastic packaging resulted in 30-40% of the beans being wasted.
• 37% of all food sold in the EU is wrapped in plastic – the most widely used packaging material.
• The cost of food waste in the EU is estimated at €143 billion each year, equivalent to the annual operational budget of the EU.

Meadhbh Bolger, resource justice campaigner at Friends of the Earth Europe, said: “The results are in: wrapping, bottling and packing food in plastic doesn’t systemically prevent food waste, and sometimes even causes it. It’s a red herring that’s causing terrible pollution of our land, sea and air. EU decision-makers need to listen to the growing public appetite to quit plastics, help Europe lead in adopting strict rules to limit throwaway plastics, and shift to localised food systems without disposable packaging.”

The study also highlights how the environmental impacts of plastics can be systematically underestimated when making policies which impact food packaging – including some in the new measures being developed by the European Commission to tackle plastic pollution. With the current use of the “Life Cycle Assessment” (LCA) methodology the Commission is leaving the door open to policies that fail to tackle plastic pollution. [3]

Ariadna Rodrigo, Sustainable Products Campaigner at Zero Waste Europe said “The packaging industry and the European Commission are not practicing sound decision making when it comes to food packaging. Their methodology, which often ignore the impacts of plastic waste, result in to conclusions that favour complex food packs which are impossible to reuse or recycle. The result is the promotion of plastic packaging designed for landfill and incineration.

The findings come as the European Commission prepares legislation to tackle plastic pollution, with a number of measures including a draft law on single-use plastics expected before the summer.

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NOTES

[1] A summary briefing of the report for media is available here. The full report is available here.

[2] The study shows how, between 2004 and 2014, household food waste in the EU doubled to an estimated 30 million tonnes per year. Plastic packaging waste increased by 50% over the same period, reaching over 15 million tonnes, although part of this may be attributable to new countries joining the EU The best-available data suggests around 40% of plastic packaging waste comes from food packaging.

[3] Analysis of the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) tool – in principle, the most comprehensive framework in analysing and assessing the environmental impact of goods and services – shows that it commonly simplifies the drivers of food waste and overstates the benefits of plastic packaging. This includes focusing on carbon emissions as the key environmental impact, and assuming all plastics are recycled, incinerated or landfilled after use – not reflecting the reality on the ground, where recycling levels are hugely variable and often extremely low, and a substantial fraction of plastic packaging ends up leaked into the environment. It also routinely fails to look at package-free or reusable options, which the report shows are on the rise across Europe, albeit in need of political support.