PETpla.net Insider 05 / 2021

MATERIALS / RECYCLING PETplanet Insider Vol. 22 No. 05/21 www.petpla.net 34 raising consumer awareness. The impact of inappropriate waste disposal and littering as well as information on alternatives, reuse systems and waste management options shall be provided. Implementation The commission has to come up with two sets of guidelines, the SUP Guidelines (what is to be considered a single use plastic product, definitions) and guidelines on EPR (criteria on costs of litter clean up). Two standardisation requests are both ongoing concerning tethered caps and lids, according to Art. 6 (plastic bottles); and circularity of fish- ing gear, Art. 8(9). There will be a range of implemen- tation acts regarding  Marking, beverage bottles separate collection, reporting of fishing gear and waste collected;  measuring and reporting consump- tion reduction by Member States;  reporting of post consumption waste tobacco products;  measuring and reporting of recy- cled content of SUP beverage bottles. Transposition and Implementation  Member States have two years to bring into force national laws and regulations to comply with the Directive - by July 3, 2021  Article 5 (market restrictions) – from 3 July 2021  Article 6 (1) (product design) – from 3 July 2024  Article 7(1) (marking) – from 3 July 2021  Article 8 (EPR) - by 31 Dec 2024  Evaluation of the Directive (Article 15) by July 2027 Responsibilities of Member States EU Member States are obliged to enshrine the stipulations contained in the Directive into national law. Bottle manufacturers may have to adapt to different requirements in different end markets. For example, one member state may decide to only allow bottles that each contain at least 25% rPET in order to achieve the required quota, while another country may opt for a mixed calculation and aim for an aver- age value of at least 25%. However, evidence must be provided and a control and reporting system must be maintained. The EU is to provide rules for the calculation and verification of the targets of rPET that also provides information on how to deal with mois- ture content, biobased contents etc. Implementation of that verification will be up to Member States. This also includes how to monitor the flow of imported goods for a certain market. Possible sanctions on companies in the event of non-compliance with the State’s own requirements are also subject to the member states. rPET specifications and availability Most of the questions that most concerned the 300 or so registered participants in the PETinar related to rPET and in particular to availability, price movements and monitoring. Dr Pant indicated that the 25% recycled content in PET bottles by 2025 should be achievable. Accord- ing to the Commission’s calcula- tions, it should be even possible to achieve the target of 30% in 2030 with only PET bottles using recycled content (while the target is set for all bottles). A concern from the auditorium was that, as rPET is more expensive than virgin PET, manufacturers of preforms and bottles could face com- petition from non-EU countries that do not comply with the Directive. But as compliance is not at the EU level, but wholly on individual Member States, it will be up to Member States themselves to monitor compliance. The recycled content target is not necessarily related to each bottle, each member state must ensure 25% rPET on average in the bottles sold in their market. However, the target is of course applicable to products whether produced within or outside the EU. By reaching the target above an average value, Member States could help small to medium-sized compa- nies avoid a price war over rPET, which could increase if significant numbers of large companies advertise the fact that they use 100% rPET in their products. Support from the EU will be given in terms of continuing research pro- jects or in the recycling infrastructure to support high quality collection, high quality sorting, high quality recycling and finally a high-quality recycled input back into the value chain pro- cesses. Digging deeper, a participant asked if the directive could ruin Europe’s recycling industry by stimu- lating an increased import of recycled material from outside the EU. Dr Pant answered: “It is correct that the rPET content in European bottles on the European market does not have to come from Europe. But of course, we look at the whole value chain and with the separate collection, for recycling, of those bottles which are placed on the European market, we hope to improve the situation and availability and as well the price of this recycled material.” Dr Pant pointed out that the Com- mission’s intention is not to encour- age huge import flows of recycled plastic from outside. On the contrary, there are ambitions to speed up the authorisation process of FCM (food contact material) recycling regulations within the Commission’s Directorate- General for Health and Food Safety (DG Santé) and the European Food Safety Authority EFSA. ”I am confi- dent that by 2025, this will no longer be an issue for PET”. http://ec.europa.eu/environment/ circular-economy/index_en.htm Missed our PETinar? The presentation and a video recording is available at www.petpla.net