Articles
EU Tackles Plastic Waste
What should we do with plastic waste? European citizens have a say!
Each year in the European Union alone we throw away 3 billion tons of waste - some 90 million tons of it hazardous. This amounts to about 6 tons of solid waste for every man, woman and child, according to Eurostat statistics. It is clear that treating and disposing of all this material - without harming the environment - becomes a major headache.
The bad news is that the OECD estimates that by 2020, we could be generating 45% more waste than we did in 1995.
The European Commission introduced a new Green Paper aiming to change this. As the world population grows and natural resources become scarcer, recycling plastics will be an alternative to the exploitation of virgin resources. To speed this change, better framework conditions are needed to support eco-design and environmental innovation, with waste prevention and recycling factored in to the design of plastic products. The Green Paper aims to gather facts and views in order to assess the impacts of plastic waste and define a European strategy to alleviate them.
Environment Commissioner Janez Potočnik says that “Managing plastic waste is a major challenge in terms of environmental protection, but it's also a huge opportunity for resource efficiency. In a circular economy where high recycling rates offer solutions to material scarcity, I believe plastic has a future. I invite all stakeholders to participate in this process of reflection on how to make plastic part of the solution rather than the problem.”
In the limelight, this effort is getting some star attention as well! Oscar-winning actor Jeremy Irons, met with European Commissioner for Education and Culture, Androula Vassiliou to discuss his recent film documentary, Trashed.
Trashed.
The film takes the viewer on a shocking journey around the globe, through the eyes of the famous actor. It raises red flags on the issue of the mounting toxic plastic waste that plagues our planet-posing serious health risk to children as well as adults.
During his visit to Brussels, he stressed his frustration that too many countries seem to view eco-spending as an optional extra. "There is a constant desire to talk about environmentalism rather as we talk about the arts, something that we'll do when we can afford it, when everything is going well. 'Just at the moment, however, the economy is in a bit of a dive, so we can't'," is the typical reaction, he commented.
Commissioner Vassiliou reassured him that "We want to take a lead on this issue in Europe and to do that we need to educate people, especially young people, about the long-term risks of not addressing the waste problem"
And now it's your turn to be involved in this process by taking part the public consultation which will last for the next three months!
Start here by answering a small number of questions (26). The result will feed into further policy action in 2014 as part of a broader waste policy review.
Read more on the Green Paper….
Read more on Commisioner Vassiliou's support for Irons....