“Plastics play an essential role in modern society. However, their value chain is currently unsustainable, contributing to the generation of climate changing emissions and increasing waste and pollution. Reducing such impacts while retaining plastics’ usefulness requires a shift towards a more circular and sustainable plastics system”, states the European Environment Agency (EEA) in a recently published briefing paper.
The paper points out three different pathways that can lead to a more circular, sustainable plastics system. One of them focusses on renewable materials, including biobased plastics, while the other two pathways focus on smarter use and increased circularity. The EEA authors identified good practice examples from across Europe for each of these pathways and which are to serve as an inspiration for how to make plastics more sustainable and circular.
