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.
If the label on the bottle in your hand said it was made from recycled plastic, would you believe it? Depending on the method behind the claim, the bottle might contain little to no recycled content at all. This position paper highlights recommendations to ensure that the methodologies for determining recycled content are developed in a manner which contributes to a circular economy, in a broad range of sectors: from single-use packaging to vehicles from electronics to textiles.
The European Commission is developing a new method to calculate, verify and report on the share of recycled content in plastic products. If not done carefully, it could lead to massive greenwashing by manufacturers. We spell out the two main pitfalls EU officials must watch out for - and how to avoid them.
ECOS seeks to commission a study exploring the use and meaning of labels used on plastic products worldwide. With this work, ECOS intends to assess the relevance, credibility, comparability, and the understanding among consumers of these labels and environmental claims.
This booklet presents infographic renditions of the recommendations from the “Determining recycled content with the ‘mass balance approach’ - 10 recommendations for the development of methods and standards” position paper, originally published on January 2021.
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