Outlaw landfill, urge plastic manufacturers

Plastics manufacturers’ trade group PlasticsEurope urged policy makers to outlaw the use of landfill as a way to boost the efficient use of resources.

“Despite the huge advances in waste management in certain countries in recent years, many EU member states are continuing to invest in landfilling as a cheap short term solution,”​ said the body.

It added: “Such policies create a significant obstacle to the development of more resource efficient options such as recycling and energy recovery of waste materials, including plastics.” ​

Realistic goal​

PlasticsEurope called on policy makers to introduce and enforce the legislation that will lead to 100 per cent of waste being diverted from landfill to other more sustainable uses.

"Eliminating landfill in all European countries is far from being an unrealistic goal,”​ said association executive director Wilfried Haensel.

The plastic producers’ chief noted that while leading countries had slashed landfilling of plastic waste to almost zero, more than half of EU member states still buried over two thirds of end-of-life plastics.

“This is often a result of poor enforcement of existing European legislation and short sighted waste management policies at local level,”​ said Haensel.

The body called for a regional ban on landfill as “a key element of the implementation of the EU’s resource efficiency strategy”.​

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Private sector role ​

The group backed the introduction of laws to boost innovation and “unlock private investment” ​into waste collection, sorting, recycling and recovery – citing countries such as Denmark, Austria Sweden and Germany as shining examples.

A ban on calorific waste in Germany introduced in 2005 had triggered a huge increase in plastic waste recovery within 12 months – “resulting in the recovery of value from nearly 100 per cent of waste plastics”,​ it added