Joint call for Commission to pick up the pace on EU calculating rules on recycled content
April 25, 2023
The European Plastic Converters (EuPC) and 30 other plastic value chain associations urgently call on the EU commission and the member states to adopt a mass balance chain of custody to calculate chemically recycled content. Legal certainty on the method is, according to the signatories of the joint call, crucial to meet the 2030 recycled content target.
Harmonised rules to boost investments in chemical recycling
Whilst the associations behind the joint call, representing major market sectors, state that mechanical recycling should maintain the preferred choice of recycling, it is in their view necessary to boost the use of recycled materials also through chemical recycling. The use of chemically recycled plastics is particularly important for the feedstock industry where mechanically recycled material is not suitable. For chemical recycling to succeed and be available at scale the associations points to the importance of establishing EU harmonised rules for calculating recycled content to intensify investments in the technologies for chemical recycling.
Tracking recycled content through the production system
The mass balance chain of custody that the joint call refers to is an approach that considers the entire production chain, from material suppliers to consumers, to track the total amount of a certain content, in this case chemically recycled content. A mass balance chain of custody is already used and accepted in other industries such as the sustainable forestry industry and the fair-trade cacao and chocolate. The approach allows for a mixing of contents whilst being able to back up claims of recycled material in the style of “this bottle contains 80 percent recycled plastic”. Being able to verify the recycled content of products is, in turn, of importance for a successful commercialization and promotion of recycled content from technologies.
EU calculating rules need to be established soon
The EuPC and other associations behind the joint call urges the European Commission to adopt EU calculating rules during the present year so as to give the industry time to plan and execute investments in chemical recycling, thereby contributing to the 2030 recycling targets.