EU plastics industry urges action amid deepening recession - Europe

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Articles of Interest
The following articles are provided as PDF downloads.
Coffee Industry Responsible for Significant Plastic Litter

How many people today grab a takeaway coffee cup from the local cafe to drink on the go? We don’t know, but the number must be enormous.. Most every one of the above have a plastic top that will last 100s of years. Some cafes still use plastic cups that last a similar time. Is 10 minutes of coffee worth 100s of years of trash? These items can be seen littering our gutters and on our streets all over the place. If they were all cardboard, they would still be littered, but they would, at least, be gone in a short time. They do not need to be made of plastic. Read More...
How Much Is Enough?

On the way home from the gym last week, a distance of about 1 km (1/2 mile), I counted the items of plastic litter on the curb as I walked. In that short distance I counted 63 pieces of plastic litter. Plastic drink bottles, bottle tops, candy wrappers, plastic film, polystyrene fragments etc. That seemed to be a lot to me. I guess it is a generational thing. Our parents would have been horrified to see that amount, whereas it seems to go unnoticed by our youth of today. In another 20 years how many pieces will there be on this stretch, -- 200? What will today’s youth think of that new amount then when they are older? Will their children be so readily accepting of a higher amount of litter?

EU plastics industry urges action amid deepening recession – Europe

Posted on September 8, 2025 by DrRossH in Plastic Recycling

The European plastics industry has warned that it is facing a deepening recession. The industry is calling on the European Union to take immediate action to prevent further decline.In a letter addressed to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on Sept. 4, representatives of the…

Source: EU plastics industry urges action amid deepening recession | Sustainable Plastics

EU plastics production fell by 13.3% between 2018 and 2022, with a further decline of 8.3% in 2023 to a total of 54 million tonnes. At current rates, output could return to levels last recorded in 2000, while demand for polymers continues to grow, the association said in the letter.

Recycling growth has also slowed, with total installed recycling capacity reaching 13.2 million tonnes in 2023. Closures are accelerating across the continent, with capacity lost between January and July 2025 almost matching lost capacity in the whole of 2024. The upcoming restrictions on plastic waste exports will require a stronger internal market for recycled materials, the signatories said.

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Dr Ross Headifen is an active promotor of the issues of plastic waste and what it is doing to our environment. He looks at issues concerning the proliferation of plastic waste and methods to control/reduce it. Including Reduce, Replace, Recycle and a new 4th R for Rejuvenation using landfill biodegradable additives to make plastics fade away.

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