FEAD: Urgent action needed to boost recycled plastics demand

Belgium – To stimulate demand for secondary plastics, green public procurement must be intensified and the use of recycled content must become mandatory in various public tenders at EU, member state and local authority levels, insists FEAD, the federation representing the private waste and resource management industry across Europe.

Falling oil values have led to lower virgin plastic prices and to the closure of recycling capacities.

Furthermore, China’s newly-announced ban on imports on certain waste streams has already ‘dramatically affected’ recycled material prices and offtakes, according to FEAD’s president Jean-Marc Boursier.

‘This wake-up call not only urgently requires the creation of more treatment capacity in Europe but also of additional local demand through demand-side measures,’ he comments.

The organisation’s secretary general Nadine De Greef adds: ‘FEAD does not believe that reliance on voluntary measures alone is enough to stimulate the secondary plastics market. Therefore, we call on the (European) Commission to come up with mandatory EU- wide GPP criteria for plastic products to reach a good balance between environmental performance, cost considerations, market availability and ease of verification.’