5 December 2024

Call to the Dutch government: let's make plastics circular

More recycled plastics must be used in new products, in the Netherlands and Europe. The current approach is inadequate and weakens the plastics supply chain. As a result, the objectives for green growth, circularity targets and greater autonomy will not be met. For this reason, actors in the plastics supply chain have joined forces and ask the Dutch government: help us make plastic production and use circular.

Businesses manufacturing, processing and recycling plastics in the Netherlands are going through a difficult period: although the plastics consumption is increasing, plastics production is falling and many recycling businesses are facing bankruptcy. Circular plastics cannot compete with cheap virgin plastics from China and the United States. The numbers are clear: since 2006 the market share of Europe in global plastics production has almost halved, from 22% to 12%. Yet, there are great ambitions to facilitate investments in circular plastics, to create green economic growth.

In a joint petition to the Dutch parliament the Dutch Federation of the Rubber and Plastics Industry (NRK), Plastics Europe, the Dutch Waste Management Association, he Royal Association of the Dutch Chemical Industry (VNCI) and the VNO-NCW Dutch Confederation of Industry and Employers ask for a change to the current policies. The current approach, with national additions to EU requirements such as plastics standards and levies, is likely to further weaken the plastics supply chain, and our plastics manufacturing businesses might shrink by as much as 40%. Additionally, obstacles to investments are not solved quickly enough. The signatories emphasise the need for an integrated approach. This can take the form of a joint Circular Plastics Agreement involving all relevant ministries and plastics industry actors.

What do we want?

The EU and its product policies can provide a basis for a sustainable plastics production chain. We need agreements about the use of circular plastics produced in Europe. By incorporating this in the Clean Industrial Deal we can prevent further growth of imports from China and other countries, and create a demand for circular products in Europe. As a result, the proportion of circular plastics in packaging and construction and automotive components will increase. In the meantime, in the Netherlands we can create conditions to make more waste-derived resources available, speed up the issue of end-of-waste status certificates, and encourage new recycling technology.

The Dutch plastics production chain - well-placed for green growth

Partly due to the plastics industry the Netherlands has a prominent position in materials research and process engineering. Dutch companies are also in the lead in Europe in terms of the collection and recycling of plastics waste. The plastics industry is ready to invest billions in innovation and technology for circular production, sorting, recycling and processing of the collected plastics. What they need now is help, to ensure those investments are indeed made in the Netherlands. Then we can make society circular more quickly, significantly reduce CO₂ emissions in the Netherlands, and strengthen our strategic autonomy. At the same time we can make our plastics production chains sustainable and future-proof.