Cologne, 28 November 2024. GreenDot welcomes the official confirmation of the new EU Commission and sees it as a crucial opportunity to advance the circular economy in Europe. The new EU Commission has clearly committed itself to the goals of the European Green Deal initiative, which aims to make Europe climate-neutral by 2050. In this context, promoting the circular economy is essential to using resources efficiently, minimizing waste and reducing EU dependency on imports of raw materials.
“We are convinced that the circular economy not only makes ecological sense, but also offers economic opportunities and increased independence for critical materials,” says Laurent Auguste, CEO of the GreenDot Group. GreenDot has been investing in various plastic recycling processes for years and will continue to expand them in the coming years. “Plastic recycling is one of the key technologies for recovering and enabling local use of valuable raw materials from waste while reducing critical environmental pollution including CO2 emissions.”
It is a positive signal that the new European Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR) was finally adopted by the European Parliament almost simultaneously. The new regulation stipulates quotas for the use of recycled materials in plastic packaging for the first time. “This is an indispensable measure to finally give the market for plastic recyclates the necessary support and to investors the signal that will lead to the needed investments to increase significantly recycling capacities,” said Auguste.
While mechanical recycling has proven processes that need to be scaled up and upgraded to enable more packaging-to-packaging recycling in the coming years, chemical recycling offers innovative approaches to processing plastic waste that cannot be recycled by conventional recycling methods. Through chemical processes, these materials can be broken down into their original monomers and reintegrated into the production process. This not only helps to reduce waste, but also to decrease the need for virgin raw materials and reduces CO2 emissions.
“We call on the EU Commission to create a clear framework and incentives for both mechanical and chemical recycling to encourage investment in the needed new infrastructures,” adds Auguste. “Close cooperation between industry, politics and research is crucial to successfully implementing the circular economy in Europe.”
GreenDot is ready to actively participate in shaping a sustainable future and, in cooperation with the new EU Commission, is committed to contribute to make the circular economy of plastics a reality at scale while tackling the challenges posed by the growing volume of plastic waste.