Environment and sustainability - September 2019

Regulations in the European countries
Austria: The government has approved regulations banning the distribution of light weight plastic bags. Belgium: A Brussels deposit return scheme (DRS) for cans and plastic bottles is included in the coalition agreement (in Dutch, 1.79 MB). France: Draft regulations (in French) have been published to promote waste reduction, including the placement of the Triman logo on all packaging covered by the EPR scheme. A draft decree was sent to the EC on the prohibition of certain single use plastic (SUP) items. Food Packaging Forum reports that questions have arisen concerning a DRS that is not yet launched. Germany: The government (in German) is working on regulations banning plastic bags. Hungary: Draft regulations have been sent to the EC amending the rules on packaging waste and draft regulations on the management of it. NL: The draft decree on plastic beverage bottles has been sent to the EC. The government (in Dutch) reports that the Dutch Caribbean is banning SUP. In a letter (in Dutch) to the House of Representatives, the State Secretary states that the problems with AEB have led to the introduction of a temporary import ceiling (in Dutch) for the incineration of foreign waste. Slovakia: A draft decree on the DRS and draft regulations amending certain packaging acts have been sent to the EC. Spain: A SUP reduction resolution (in Spanish) has been introduced. Sweden: A proposal (in Swedish, 415 kB) has been published for a tax of 3 SEK on plastic bags. UK: In a recent report, MPs call for the government to focus on reducing all single use packaging - not just SUP. The government has published the results of the consultation on a tax on plastic packaging and the results of the consultation on a DRS. The Scottish government has announced the publication of draft legislation to establish Scotland’s DRS. A recent survey by Zero Waste Scotland shows strong public support for the scheme.

Regulations outside the EU
Australia: The National Packaging Targets for 2025 were recently announced. During a meeting the COAG agreed to establish a timetable to ban the export of waste plastic, paper, glass and tires. The Government of South Australia has published the results (6.46 MB) of a public consultation and announced its intention to introduce legislation to ban a range of SUP items. Singapore: The government has launched a Zero Waste Masterplan (15.2 MB). US: Lawmakers have announced a legislative proposal that brings plastics recycling to the federal level. It includes a SUP ban, a national DRS and EPR. ANSI reports on the changes to the ASTM Resin Identification Code Standard.

Publications, initiatives and research
The OECD has published a paper (2.46 MB) entitled Policy approaches to incentivise sustainable plastic design. RecyClass has released a Recyclability Evaluation Protocol (4.09 MB) for HDPE containers. UK WRAP has published guidelines (425 kB) for rigid plastic packaging. The creation of a Partnership on Plastic Waste is announced on the Basel Convention website. The NL KIDV has initiated a Community of Practice for flexible plastic packaging. Fevia (in Dutch) has launched a website (in Dutch) that summarises the BE food industry's packaging targets for 2025. A report (2.05 MB) by Australian Fresh Produce Alliance indicates that fresh produce packaging can help mitigate food waste.
Researchers at De Montfort University Leicester have turned recycled plastic water bottles into prosthetic limbs. ScienceDaily reports that Shinshu University researchers have managed to break vinyl polymers down to aspirin components. Swansea University research, published in the Journal of Carbon Research (1.24 MB), has found how black plastic food packaging can be recycled to create new materials like wires for electricity. According to University of Sheffield research published in Communications Chemistry (5.93 MB), the structure of ultra-white beetle scales could hold the key to making bright-white paint using recycled plastic waste.

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