ACR+

International organisations, governments and cities across the globe are waking up: marine litter is an issue that has to be tackled without delay. The estimation that plastic accounts for over 80% of marine litter is now well accepted.

To address the issue, a circular economy vision for plastics has been revealed by the European Commission in January 2018. The vision put forward by the Commission is to make all plastic packaging recyclable and reusable by 2030. Thus, the plastics strategy contains promising measures that should be supported by all actors of the value chain. All these measures have the potential to significantly decrease CO2 emissions. Furthermore, some of the proposed measures are specifically intended to fight marine litter. At this moment, the Commission is working on shaping a new legislative proposal on single-use plastics, to be adopted in May 2018.

Over a month before the release of the plastics strategy, in December 2017, a provisional agreement had been reached between the Estonian presidency and representatives of the European Parliament on the waste package and in particular on the packaging (waste) directive. It has been now endorsed by both the EU ambassadors (COREPER) and the Environment Committee of the European Parliament. With the upcoming steps being a vote at the Plenary of the European Parliament followed by a final adoption by the European Council, the agreement is getting closer and closer to be adopted this year.

It is thus important to have a close look at what it contains regarding plastics.

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Also in this issue:

• New EU waste rules en route to adoption
• Urban Investment Support service launched to help cities plan and implement investments
• Environmental indicator report 2017 published

... and much more!