EU’s single-use plastics waste should be a shared responsibility

Tomorrow’s vote in the European Parliament on single-use plastics waste will be an important decision for European industry. BusinessEurope believes it is essential that the EU takes actions to address the serious issue that plastic waste ends up in the environment, often because consumers dispose the waste inappropriately or because of inadequate waste management infrastructure.

Ahead of the vote BusinessEurope, Director General Markus J. Beyrer said: “We don’t want to see plastics litter being thrown into our streets or plastic bottles ending up in the ocean. Instead, we fully support the objective to prevent any such waste from ending up in the environment. But tomorrow the European Parliament might make plastic producers exclusively responsible for inappropriate behaviours that go beyond their control. Politicians should know that industry is fully committed to contribute its fair share, from waste collection to awareness raising, but the clean-up costs have the potential to put a limitless burden on producers. Therefore, for tomorrow’s vote, we support Members of the European Parliament that aim at making the Parliament proposal fairer in this regard.”

The European Commission published its proposal on the reduction of the impact of certain plastic products in May 2018. The European Parliament is set to vote on its amendments to the Commission proposal on Wednesday. The European Council is expected to adopt its general approach on the issue during the Environment Council on 20 December.