Trade association Plastics Europe has said there should be a single market in the EU for shipment of plastic for recycling.
It said that the Waste Shipment Regulation needs to be revised to allow plastics destined for recycling to move more easily among members of the single market.
Plastics Europe warned that the current EU Waste Shipment Regulation is burdensome because of its complex rules that mean in extreme circumstances some companies have waited four years for approval for shipments.
But it said that this means more plastic was going to energy from waste facilities or landfill rather than being recycled.
It added that the revised Article 14 of the Waste Shipment Regulation should aim to keep waste in the EU by harmonising administrative measures and speeding up so-called ‘pre-consent’ procedures, to allow plastic waste to be shipped to compliant recycling facilities in other single market nations.
Plastics Europe managing director Virginia Janssens said: “We urgently need access to as much recycled, high-quality plastic waste as possible to build a circular economy.
“We must avoid the absurd situation in which waste processing facilities only use waste from their own domestic markets, or indeed have to wait years for the approval of waste shipments from other EU member states. An EU single market for waste needs to be guaranteed.”
