Business Coalition welcomes ENVI Committee vote on MEP Jutta Paulus’ objection
Brussels, 18 April 2024 – Today, the European Parliament’s Committee on Environment, Public Health and Food Safety (ENVI) voted in favour of MEP Jutta Paulus’ motion for a resolution objecting the draft Commission Implementing Decision on the mass balance approach under the Single Use Plastics Directive (SUPD).
The undersigned organisations – business organisations, associations, and companies active in the waste management value chain – welcome and support this decision, as it marks a crucial step in the right direction. However, this decision still needs to be confirmed during the plenary session next week, where MEPs will vote on the objection.
During today’s vote in the ENVI Committee, MEP Ska Keller rightly underlined the importance of this vote by stating that it concerns ‘the future of recycling’. The Commission’s draft report, if implemented, would create an uneven playing field between recycling technologies and could lead to structural greenwashing, preventing consumers from making sustainable purchasing decisions.
Whilst it has been stated that this Implementing Act would not pre-empt any calculation methods for the Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation, the Commission has clearly indicated that it is a testing ground for the legislation. Therefore, the waste management sector reiterates that it is inappropriate to expedite and use a legislative instrument with such a narrow scope to shape the future of an entire recycling industry.
The signatories call on legislators to not oppose the investments made by the chemical recycling industry to the investments already made by the mechanical recycling industry to achieve the 2025 target of 25% recycled content for PET beverage bottles. While we support the complementarity of chemical and mechanical recycling technologies, priority should be given to mechanical recycling for waste streams, including PET, that can be recycled mechanically with a lower environmental footprint.
Finally, the proposed Decision could result in unfair competition for access to waste feedstocks between technologies that are claimed to be complementary. The mechanical recycling of plastic waste sustains 30,000 jobs across 850 companies, with 90% of these being small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) that could face direct impacts from this unfair competition. The question it comes down to is whether Parliament wants to support SMEs and local businesses delivering sustainable solution for plastic waste.
For these reasons, our Business Coalition urge MEPs to vote in favour of the objection during the plenary session to align with the objectives of the SUPD and promote the transition to a circular economy.
For more information, please refer to our joint position paper on this matter.
For additional information or any inquiries, please do not hesitate to contact us at info@fead.be.
The signatories
ALPLA
Ecopreneur
FEAD
Werner & Mertz