Bio Intelligence Service: Study on an increased mechanical recycling target for plastic – free report

09 October 2013

The use of natural resources in the world is expected to quadruple by 2050 and at the current rate of depletion, the world cannot satisfy demand for resources from virgin materials along. Recycling has been at the centre stage of the environmental policy for several decades and the use of waste as resource has been highlighted again by the EU Resource Efficiency Roadmap.The nature and amount of recycling in a given geographical area depend on different factors such as material composition of products, waste collection schemes, and different technologies of recycling. The overall success of a recycling stream is driven by appropriate public policies, efficient and well organised value chain, and conscious consumers. In the case of plastics, some progress has been made in the last years but the amount of the collected plastics which was recycled in the EU is only 24%. This report examines the trends in plastics recycling in Europe and makes a case for increasing plastics recycling which will bring additional environmental, social and economic benefits.
To download the report click here (927 kB)

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