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.
Open Letter signed by 160+ environmental groups urging institutions to uphold PPWR application date and key provisions
As civil society organisations, companies championing reuse, consumer protection
organisations, academics and universities, and communities impacted by PFAS and
plastic pollution, we urge you to reject any last-minute calls to delay the application of the
Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR) and reopen key provisions, including
those set out in the letter sent by certain industry representatives on 29 April.
Joint Call to Protect the Integrity of the Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation
We are deeply concerned by the potential reopening of the Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR) as part of the upcoming Environmental Simplification Omnibus.
The PPWR is a cornerstone of the European Circular Economy and is a crucial step in establishing the necessary framework that enables truly reusable and recyclable packaging across the Single Market by 2030.
While the legislation had already been watered down in response to intense industry lobbying, it provides crucial measures to help tackle Europe’s ever-growing consumption of throwaway packaging by setting binding rules for prevention, reuse and redesign.
“Include Plastics and polymers into the first ESPR work programme” – Open Letter to Commissioner Roswall
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.
Strengthening EU Rules on Pellet Loss: A necessary move to prevent the damage and reduce the cost of microplastic pollution
Rethink Plastic’s position on the EU’s regulation to prevent pellet loss: To effectively reduce the environmental and economic burden of pellet loss, a comprehensive supply chain approach is essential to implement, with robust and binding measures for all operators at every stage of the supply chain, ensuring that those responsible for pollution are held accountable rather than leaving EU public authorities and citizens to pay. Such binding prevention steps will protect public health and ecosystems while cutting long-term costs for European communities by curbing the ongoing effects of microplastic pollution.
APPEAL TO EU LEADERS TO PRIORITISE A FAIR AND INCLUSIVE GREEN TRANSITION IN THE NEXT POLITICAL MANDATE
With just one month until the EU elections, we appeal to you to make a top political priority of the triple planetary crisis of climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution given the devastating impacts and growing intensity and frequency of climate-related events for ecosystems, health, economies, social justice and cohesion.
NGO-Business Coalition supports the objection to the draft Implementing Act for the calculation of recycled plastic content in single-use plastic beverage bottles
Open Letter on Chemicals in the PPWR
In line with our letter sent to Commissioners on 30 November 2023 regarding substances of concern in the Ecodesign for Sustainable Product Regulation (ESPR)1, we are now calling on negotiators to maintain the ambition of the Chemicals Strategy for Sustainability (CSS) within the PPWR.
In particular, we ask the negotiators to:
- Introduce restrictions in the cases of significant risks to human health or the environment with wording aligned with the ESPR, and
- Introduce bans on PFAS and BPA in packaging.
Image by Freepik
Open Letter to the Members of the European Parliament: The Plastic Pellet Crisis Exposes Weakness in proposed EU Regulation
After yet another container loss, the shores of Galicia, Asturias and Cantabria
(Spain), along the Atlantic coast, are under siege from a relentless tide of
microplastics. Those small particles washing ashore are plastic pellets, which are
the raw material used to manufacture all plastic items.