Managing Non Packaging Plastics In European Waste Streams

Plastic is used in many ways and in large quantities across Europe. Environmental concerns make this a key focus for policy. Currently, most policy actions focus on plastic packaging, even though a large proportion of plastics are used for non-packaging applications, such as construction, furniture and consumer electronics. Improved reporting on the flows of non-packaging plastics is needed to inform the development of effective policies and measures that target this significant waste stream and increase resource efficiency, in line with the aims of the circular economy action plan.

This project examines the market for recycled plastic, with a primary focus on post-consumer plastic waste because this is considered to be the more problematic. The market for plastic waste generated in manufacturing and production is relatively strong and well-functioning; As a consequence, the majority of plastic waste from manufacturing and production is recycled. Post-consumer waste is much less homogenous: it comes from a wide variety of sources, and contains a wide variety of plastics and tends to be difficult to collect, sort, and recycle. This project identifies barriers to further utilisation of recycled plastics, and analyses a collection of policy tools that could be used to support and expand that market.

Achieving a high quality of waste plastic materials and recycling processes is a key challenge in closing the resource loops for plastics. This report reviews the status and trends for plastic waste flows and treatment in Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden. Furthermore, it gives an overview of existing policy instruments and the main challenges for designing policy instruments for improved recycling of plastic waste in these Nordic countries. The report identifies potential market failures associated with closing the resource loops for plastics. It reviews the economics research literature on policy instrument design for achieving optimal recycling rates and makes policy recommendations from the Nordic perspective. Finally, it presents results from a survey on market conditions to managers in the recycling and plastic manufacturing industry in Sweden.

Master's Thesis from the year 2019 in the subject Politics - International Politics - Topic: European Union, grade: 5.0=1, , course: Masters in Management and Quality Studies, language: English, abstract: This study evaluates the EU‘s strategy on Plastics by examining the problem at hand faced by both governments, as well as businesses, the economic impact the strategy, could have across the EU and if the steps the EU is following is sustainable or not and will the policy help in reaching the goal the use of 100 percent of recyclable plastic packaging by 2030, what are the major challenges the policy faces and what are the plausible solutions. When speaking about marketing management we also need to dwell deeper into sustainable practices which can help improve not only our product sales but also help us give back to the community and the environment around us. Packaging is an important part of marketing and plastic packaging and its impact on our environment needs to be taken seriously. It is high time we start thinking about how to close the loop.

Concern about the harm that industrial activities may cause the environ ment, means that all are now being scrutinised to assess their impact. Packaging is no exception. It is now high on the political agenda, in terms of the environmental issues which are targeted for immediate attention in industrially developed countries and is often perceived as a wasteful drain on non-sustainable resources and an unnecessary indulgence on the part of affluent societies. This book seeks to understand and respond to the variety of pressures packaging now faces, and to review and correct the many misconceptions that exist in relation to its environmental impacts. It has been structured to address the topical and critical areas for attention; it identifies and explains what are seen to be the main issues and discusses the responses being made to them in different parts of the world. More specifically, this book is intended to: • clarify the facts and dispel many of the myths surrounding the environmental aspects of packaging • explain and emphasise packaging's essential role in the workings of human society • review legislative and regulatory developments, the trends and the extent to which they are converging • consider what constitutes environmentally responsible packaging manufacture • discuss and compare the relative environmental merits and differ ences between the various packaging materials and systems • address the requirements for identifying and controlling manufac turing impacts and the role of environmental auditing in this process

This policy brief outlines the main findings from the project Plastic Waste Markets: Overcoming barriers to better resource utilisation. The aim of the project is to provide an overview of the key barriers to a stronger and more robust market for recycled plastics, and to suggest potential initiatives that could be used to overcome these barriers and strengthen the market. The project is part of the market challenges to the Nordic Prime Ministers’ green growth initiative, The Nordic Region – leading in green growth.

Plastics have become one of the most prolific materials on the planet: in 2015 we produced about 380 million tonnes of plastics globally, up from 2 million tonnes in the 1950s. Yet today only 15% of this plastic waste is collected and recycled into secondary plastics globally each year. This ...

This report covers the consumption of plastics in Europe, how much waste plastic is produced, a summary of recent legislation and the various methods of dealing with plastic wastes. The plastics recycling industry in Europe is then reviewed, with an in-depth look at the relevant legislation followed by a summary of the situation in most of the major European countries. The major end-use sectors for plastics and the problem of waste plastics in each are examined in the final section.

This is a guideline for plastic sorting at recycling centres. The aim is to give assistance to the choices made by the management of recycling centres in order to collect plastic of better quality and in greater quantities. In the guideline, the potential plastic categories are listed and described, also with respect to potential content of hazardous substances. Issues to take into account when choosing how to organise the collection of plastic at the recycling centre are described. A separate chapter looks at how the public could be assisted with the sorting of plastics at the recycling centres. The guideline is part of the Nordic Prime Ministers' overall green growth initiative: “The Nordic Region – leading in green growth” - read more in the web magazine “Green Growth the Nordic Way” at www.nordicway.org or at www.norden.org/greengrowth