The EU mandates the use of recycled plastics, which will have a greater impact on Chinese companies in the future
On the 30th local time, the European Union will revise the "Packaging and Packaging Waste Directive". The European Commission wants to reduce the environmental impact of packaging by forcing manufacturers to use recycled plastic in new packaging.
According to foreign media quotes, the draft shows that by 2030, the renewable content of plastic beverage bottles and contact-sensitive packaging will be 30%, and contact-sensitive packaging made of non-PET (polyethylene terephthalate) will be 10%. , other plastic packaging is 35%, and then the target will be greatly increased in 2040.
"Circularity in packaging helps to decouple economic development from the use of natural resources," the European Commission said in the above-mentioned draft. "The packaging industry has grown faster than gross national income in recent years, causing carbon dioxide and other emissions to soar, and Overexploitation of natural resources, loss of biodiversity and pollution."
It can be seen that under the dual factors of energy crisis and environmental protection considerations, the EU will accelerate the implementation of the "plastic restriction order" in 2022. On the one hand, it will ban disposable plastic products on a large scale, and on the other hand, it will promote plastic recycling within the EU in the form of directives. business growth.
A senior environmental assessment professional from an international multilateral organization told Yicai Global that this measure stems from the current pressure on environmental protection faced by the European Union. After China announced in 2017 that it would ban the entry of foreign waste and promote the reform of the solid waste import management system, other countries in the world have followed suit. However, the European and American countries that originally exported these wastes do not have a domestic plastic recycling industry chain. Complete. The EU's move is also to promote the development of its internal recycling industry and solve practical problems. At the same time, considering the current price of natural gas, the plastics industry is also a high-energy-consuming industry, and the volume needs to be reduced, he said.
He also explained that for Chinese chemical companies, especially those exporting plastic products to Europe, the carbon tariffs that the EU will implement in the future will have a greater impact.
