Dear Commissioner for Environment, Water Resilience and a Competitive Circular Economy Jessika Roswall,
We, the undersigned organisations, urge you to include the plastics and polymer sector in the forthcoming first Working Plan under the Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation (ESPR). Plastic in products has an outsized impact on human health and the environment and was included in the JRC’s shortlist for intermediate products. Yet the final text of the ESPR does not list plastics and polymers as one of the suggested sectors for intermediate product priorities.
Plastics and polymers need to be included as an intermediate product in the first working plan under the EU Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation (ESPR) – foreseen for early 2025. By prioritising plastics and polymers in the first ESPR working plan, the EU will take a major step in addressing the plastic pollution crisis, and work towards minimising the environmental footprint of plastic and polymer production.
Plastics and polymers should be included as an intermediate product in the first working plan
under the Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation (foreseen for early 2025). By prioritising
plastics and polymers in the first ESPR working plan, the EU will take a major step in addressing
the plastic pollution crisis, working to minimise the environmental footprint of plastic and polymer
production. This paper showcases the need to do that and shed lights on the missing pieces of the
puzzle and limitation of current methodology that look into polymer production.
Did you know that the production of plastics requires the extraction of finite fossil fuels? In 99% of the cases, plastic is made from resources such as coal, oil and gas. The remaining 1% are made from crops or forestry resources.
