ECOS works to cut our global plastic footprint and ensure clean material loops in a circular plastics economy by engaging in standards and related policy developments. We contribute to policy developments related to plastics in order to push for an absolute reduction of our plastic footprint. We believe that plastic products should be clean and circular by design, and that they can be recycled into new products. We also help develop test methods, criteria and regulatory targets to dramatically reduce microplastics emissions into the environment. As standards shape the essential part of the European and global markets for plastics, ECOS also contributes to standardisation workin order to foster net environmental benefits. The more robust and ambitious the standards in the plastics field, the better the overall environmental performance of plastics and the lower the overall pollution level of the sector.
Chemical recycling could become a loophole in EU waste and chemical legislation, diverting the EU from reaching its circular economy and climate goals. European institutions can avoid this problem now.
ECOS has joined the steering group developing a new standard on responsible plastic pellets waste management, set up by the British Standardisation Institute (BSI). It aims to tackle spills of these materials – they are the second largest source of primary microplastic pollution after tyre wear and tear.
ECOS and the Rethink Plastic Alliance ask the EU Commission and Member States to improve the rules for packaging in the European Union.
The concept of ‘chemical recycling’ has been promoted by the industry for decades, including as a solution to the current plastic crisis. The industry has been claiming that chemical recycling technologies are able to treat plastic waste that is currently not recovered through mechanical recycling, thus enabling an entirely circular economy in plastic. Yet, a recent research review highlights the limits of these technologies to deal with plastic waste (such as the need for a pure feedstock, the need for further treatment of by-products, high loss of feedstock carbon in the process, etc.) and the high energy consumption requirement of these processes.
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