During the EP plenary session (15-18 January 2018) in Strasbourg, MEPs debate on the decision on the strategy on plastics. Statements by Frans TIMMERMANS, First Vice-President of the EC in charge of Better Regulation, Inter-Institutional Relations, the Rule of Law and the Charter of Fundamental Rights, Jyrki KATAINEN, Vice-President of the EC in charge of Jobs, Growth, Investment and Competitiveness, Peter LIESE (EPP, DE), Julie GIRLING (ECR, UK) and Gerben-Jan GERBRANDY (ALDE, NL).

Strasbourg

debate

plenary session

TIMMERMANS, Frans (NL, EC)

GIRLING, Julie (EPP, UK)

KATAINEN, Jyrki (FI, EC)

GERBRANDY, Gerben-Jan (ALDE, NL)

environmental protection (T)

own resources (T)

LIESE, Peter (EPP, DE)

circular economy (T)

reduction of the environmental impact of plastics (T)

Decision on the strategy on plastics: extracts from the debate

SOUNDBITE (English), Frans TIMMERMANS, First Vice-President of the EC in charge of Better Regulation, Inter-Institutional Relations, the Rule of Law and the Charter of Fundamental Rights, <p>There is a tide of growing awareness and concern among people, businesses and governments about the enormity of plastic pollution. In last year's special Eurobarometer survey 84% of European citizens said that they are worried about the impact of plastics on our environment. The Commission also received a petition signed by 80.000 Europeans calling us to deliver an ambitious plan.</p>

SOUNDBITE (English), Frans TIMMERMANS, First Vice-President of the EC in charge of Better Regulation, Inter-Institutional Relations, the Rule of Law and the Charter of Fundamental Rights, With this strategy we aim to foster a new sustainable and profitable plastics economy with the design of products and other parts of the production chain taking into account re-use and recycling needs. Plastic packaging accounts for about 60% of all plastic waste generated in Europe every year. It is therefore paramount that we address packaging as a priority. Our aim is that by 2030 all plastic packaging placed to the EU market will be reusable or recyclable in a cost effective manner.

SOUNDBITE (English), Jyrki KATAINEN, Vice-President of the EC in charge of Jobs, Growth, Investment and Competitiveness, According to the estimates only 5% of the value of plastic packaging material retains in the economy, the rest goes to waste after a very short first use. The annual bill account for up to 105 billion euros, we simply cannot afford it.

SOUNDBITE (English), Jyrki KATAINEN, Vice-President of the EC in charge of Jobs, Growth, Investment and Competitiveness, The aim is that by 2030 all plastic packaging will be reusable and recyclable. This will be achieved by a stimulating design for circularity, boosting recycling content and stimulating better separate waste collection.

SOUNDBITE (German), Peter LIESE (EPP, DE), We need a legislative framework so that those who want to bring forward recycling plans, those who want to get into sustainable working processes they have got to have a competitive edge, they must not be at a disadvantage in competitive terms because there are shareholders out there who say, well that's a luxury and it has got to be demonstrated that investing in sustainable production doesn't run into money, it creates revenue and that revenue and that I think will stand us in good step.

SOUNDBITE (English), Julie GIRLING (ECR, UK), <p>I take the new thing in here that I took away, was this issue about setting a single market for  recyclable plastics, standards on how they are manufactured, what they are manufactured with; that's how you stimulate this to change is by creating a market, making that market work, trust the public, I can tell you in the UK where we just banned micro-plastics there was no resistance, they don't need to be brought on board it is actually the functioning of the whole system that needs to be taken very seriously.</p>

SOUNDBITE (Dutch), Gerben-Jan GERBRANDY (ALDE, NL), Taxation on disposed of plastics that's an important thing, you can find examples in the Member States, it's important for it to gather support so that we can get away from that. But we've got to make sure that the tax can be used as a kind of own resource for the Union because it would really be one easy to sell and it would then provide us, I think we've got a very strong argument and we can build a case for that to be an own resource.