The European plastics industry will exceed the targets for implementing the European plastics strategy that it has formulated in the „Plastics 2030“ voluntary commitment. This was predicted by Javier Constante, President of the plastics manufacturers„ association PlasticsEurope, at a press conference at K 2019. Overall, however, the European plastics industry is worried about the economic future.
The Plastics industry is suffering from the weakening economy in Europe, said Dr Rüdiger Baunemann, Regional Director Central Region of PlasticsEurope and Managing Director of PlasticsEurope Deutschland e.V., at the trade fair in Düsseldorf. Plastics production on the continent already declined last year, while it increased slightly worldwide.
The global Plastics production reached a value of almost 360 million tonnes. Europe, on the other hand, recorded a slight decline from 64.4 million tonnes in 2017 to 61.8 million tonnes a year later. This trend will continue in 2019.
„Economic development has lost considerable momentum, with important customer sectors showing weak to negative growth rates.“
Dr Rüdiger Baunemann, Regional Director Central Region of PlasticsEurope
In addition to the economic data, PlasticsEurope also presented facts on the Utilisation of plastic. The figures and trends were summarised in the publication „Plastics - the Facts 2019“. At K 2019, PlasticsEurope provided information about the prospects for plastics with the special show „Plastics shape the future“.
Transformation to a circular plastics economy
According to PlasticsEurope, the European plastics industry is continuing its transformation towards a more circular and resource-efficient plastics economy. The collection of Plastic waste from 27.1 million tonnes in 2016 to 29.1 million tonnes in 2018. The quantities that the Recycling increased by almost twelve percent to more than 9.4 million tonnes.
„I see a lot of determination in the industry to accelerate concrete solutions in the fight against marine litter, to adapt business models and to go beyond the current recycling targets.“
Javier Constante, President of PlasticsEurope
Javier Constante, President of PlasticsEurope, delivered a speech at the K 2019 took stock of the European plastics producers„ voluntary commitment “Plastics 2030 - Voluntary Commitment". In his opinion, plastics producers have helped to establish value chain-orientated platforms for plastics in order to achieve the Recycling rates and improve resource efficiency. In addition, all member companies have committed to implementing the „Operation Clean Sweep“ (OCS) by the end of 2019. PlasticsEurope is the first industry association in the world to integrate OCS as one of its core values, emphasised Constante.
[infotext icon]You can find the publication „Plastics - The Facts 2019“ on the Homepage from PlasticsEurope.
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