Letter to Aurel Ciobanu Dordea, Director for Circular Economy, DG Environment.
The Rethink Plastic Alliance and supporting organisations recognise the importance of addressing fossil
resource dependence in the plastics sector and we welcome efforts to explore pathways towards reducing
the climate impacts of packaging materials. The study Support for bio-based feedstock in plastic packaging
analysis under the Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (EU) 2025/40, however, does not provide a
sufficiently balanced basis for future policy development.
Rethink Plastic and Environmental Paper Network’s response to the consultation on a revised EU Bioeconomy Strategy
We urge the European Commission to ensure that the revised strategy actively supports a truly circular, regenerative, and ecologically sound bioeconomy. This includes ensuring ambitious alignment with European and global objectives on packaging, ecodesign for sustainable products, and nature restoration. In particular, this new strategy must recognise the risks of unchecked expansion of bio-based material production, addressing the full lifecycle impacts of bio-based plastics and paper, and prioritising resource sufficiency, ecological resilience, and social equity over simplistic assumptions of renewability or carbon neutrality.