Plastic Soup Foundation
  • The issue
      • Plastic Soup
      • What is plastic?
      • Plastic in the environment
      • Harm to animals
      • Health effects
      • Regulations
      • Bogus solutions
      • Responsibilities
      • Sustainable development
      • Facts & Figures
  • What we do
      • Health
      • Microplastics
      • Education
      • Plastic Waste
      • Other Projects
  • What you can do
      • As a consumer
      • As an organization
      • As a school
  • Solutions
  • News
  • Donate
  • NL
  • EN
  • Search
  • Menu Menu
You are here: News Powerful European plastics industry lobby resists European Union measures

Powerful European plastics industry lobby resists European Union measures

Amsterdam/Brussels 24 May 2018 – There is much at stake if the European Union announces measures against growing plastic pollution. The Corporate Europe Observatory researches lobbying activities in Brussels and has analysed that of the plastics industry.

The European Union’s directive was leaked a few weeks ago. It showed that Single Use Plastics (SUP) in particular will be addressed. Products that have alternatives will be banned; other products must have information labels for consumers; and yet others will have to be designed better. The number of SUPs will be reduced and producers will be made responsible for the disposal phase of their products. They will have to pay for the collection and disposal of litter, for example.

It is hardly surprising that the plastics industry started a strong lobby campaign to fight these regulations. The overriding question is whether and to what extent the European Commission will listen to them and propose a strongly reduced package of measures on 28 May.

Corporate Europe Observatory has listed how many times the industry has met with the European Commission and spoken to Euro Parliamentarians; how many full-time lobbyists are employed; and how much money is spent on this. What emerges is that the industry will not comment on voluntary quantitative reduction goals and on what time-scale or what percentage of plastic products should be recyclable or reusable. The comments that the industry does issue hugely diverge from the intentions of the European Commission.

The European Commission says that it will introduce legal measures should the European plastics industry not come up with more ambitious goals itself. The plastics lobby has already responded and has stated that the Commission’s plans are insufficiently founded on scientific evidence and that it would make more sense to voluntarily improve the plastic cycle. The emphasis would then be placed on circularity and the efficient use of resources, thereby continuing the production of unlimited plastic products.

The plastics industry is using all the means it has at its disposal to resist the introduction of a tax on the use of virgin plastics. A tax would make the production of new plastic more expensive and at the same time would make it more attractive to use recycled plastic. These were the Commission’s initial plans, but these have quietly disappeared into the background.


Also read: Investment warning plastic packaging

Search

Categories

  • Pressreleases (2)
  • Microplastics in cosmetics (1)
  • Junior (1)
  • No category (1)
  • News (509)
  • What can you do? (13)
  • Health Files (38)
  • Clean rivers (24)
  • Plastic soupermarket (2)
  • Trash hunters (48)
  • What is plastic soup? (12)
  • What to do with plastic waste? (11)
  • Types of plastic (3)
  • Press releases (16)
  • Beat the microbead (16)
  • Solutions (10)
  • Don't use balloons (3)
  • Gezondheidseffecten (56)
  • Animal cruelty (13)
  • sponsoring campaign (1)
  • Microbeads (26)
  • Sponsor actions (3)
  • Ocean Clean Wash (12)
  • About us (1)
  • Plastic Urban Mining (4)
  • Blogs (16)
  • My little plastic footprint (4)
  • Plastic Soup Awards (3)
  • Synthetic fibers (19)
  • Political plume (3)
  • actions frontpage (1)
  • nurdles (5)

Subscribe to our newsletter

and stay informed about our activities!
  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Donate now and contribute

I'll donate € 5I'll donate € 10I'll donate € 15Other amount

More news

Tonnes of invisible nanoplastics in the Wadden Sea

Pioneering research suggests the scale of invisible nanoplastics in the Wadden Sea, and points to the potential dangers for marine life.

Read more

Mea culpa from Ocean Conservancy for its influential 2015 report. Who will be next?

Industry can no longer deny adding to the plastic soup. Apologies are now being given for a report dating from 2015

Read more

€3bn INEOS plastics project finally faces court action

ClientEarth has taken the Flemish authorities to court to block petrochemicals giant INEOS’ plastics project.

Read more

Less plastic = less dependence on fossil fuels

Level one of the gas crisis issued. To be less dependent on fossil fuels, we can also use less plastic.

Read more

About us

  • Frontrunners
  • Mission & Vision
  • Our People
  • Working with Us
  • Annual Reports
  • Inquiries Press
  • Newsletter

Our approach

  • Plastic Soup Angels
  • Funds & Partners
  • Ambassadors
  • Plastic Soup Awards
  • Plastic Soup Atlas
  • Facts & Figures
DONATE
  • Facebook

  • Twitter

  • Instagram

  • LinkedIn

  • YouTube

  • Contact

 
© Copyright - Plastic Soup Foundation
  • Contact
  • Privacy policy
  • GDPR Consent Settings
New measures in European Union to tackle the plastic soupEuropean Commission’s Proposal to Reduce Single-Use Plastic
Scroll to top

GDPR settings

This website uses some cookies which are placed on your device. Your web browser stores these cookies when you visit our Website: www.plasticsoupfoundation.org. These cookies will be retrieved when you visit or use our Website again. This allows us to recognise you as a previous visitor/user.

Privacy policy
Close

Your privacy and this website...

This website uses some cookies which are placed on your device. Your web browser stores these cookies when you visit our Website: www.plasticsoupfoundation.org. These cookies will be retrieved when you visit or use our Website again. This allows us to recognise you as a previous visitor/user.

Functional technology enables a website to remember information that changes the way the website behaves or looks, like your preferred language or the region that you are in. No personalised information is collected.

See details

This consent is used to track visitors across websites. The intention is to display ads that are relevant and engaging for the individual user and thereby more valuable for publishers and third party advertisers.

See details

This consent helps website owners to understand how visitors interact with websites by collecting and reporting.

See details
Forget my settings Settings have been forgotten