Frequently Asked Questions

The Pact originates from this simple observation: it is hard to excel on your own. The Pact’s network helps companies to achieve their ambitions, to implement their plastics strategies and to create a level playing field. More concrete, companies can expect:

• a unique platform for discussion at the European level with peers, other stakeholders in the plastics value chain, governments and other organisations. Companies will be able to put forward their position, solutions and dilemmas, and also to inspire the European work programme around the European Green Deal and the new Circular Economy Package;
• credibility of their approach and positioning as a frontrunning company;
• peer support and sharing of good practices;
• access to working groups to discuss obstacles that businesses encounter in the transition towards a circular plastic economy, including the lack of harmonisation of national rules and the difficulties of cross-border management of the waste and recycling material flows;
• access to the big annual meeting enabling European companies to network and to showcase their innovations.

Participants in the European Plastics Pact are determined to promote a smart, circular approach to plastics. Each group of participants has its own role and responsibility required to solve the European plastics puzzle together:

• Plastics production and recycling companies: producers of virgin, biosourced and/or recycled plastics in the chemical industry, the fossil industry and the bioplastics industry.
• Plastics user companies: companies that use plastics in consumer goods and/or for packaging, such as the food and packaging industry, or in their activities, such as retailers, brands, the hotel industry, logistics providers, caterers and event organisers.
• Collection, sorting and recycling companies: companies in waste collection and in the sorting and recycling industry that supply plastic waste for reuse or recycling.
• Governments: States belonging to the European Economic Area.
• Supporting organisations: Stakeholders which do not play a direct role in the plastics value chain, but which can  play a significant role in the implementation of the European Plastics Pact by offering specific support, for example industry associations, environmental NGOs and suppliers of innovative technologies.

The geographic scope of the European Plastics Pact is defined as countries in the European Economic Area (EEA), European Free Trade Association (EFTA), and the United Kingdom (as a former member of the EEA). Organisations located within this geographic area are welcome to sign the European Plastics Pact.

The European Plastics Pact is based on four “aspirational” objectives to achieve better life cycle management of plastics:

• Reusability and recyclability: Design all plastic packaging and single-use plastic products placed on the market to be reusable where possible and in any case recyclable by 2025;
• Responsible use of plastics: move towards a more responsible use of plastic packaging and single-use plastic products, aiming to reduce virgin plastic products and packaging by at least 20% (by weight) by 2025[1], with half of this reduction coming from an absolute reduction in plastics;
• Collection, sorting and recycling: increase the collection, sorting and recycling capacity by at least 25 percentage points by 2025 and reach a level that corresponds to market demand for recycled plastics;
• Use of recycled plastics: Increase the use of recycled plastics in new products and packaging by 2025, with plastics user companies achieving an average of at least 30% recycled plastics (by weight) in their product and packaging range.

[1] after accounting for organisational growth or shrinkage

The Pact’s main aim is to close the loop and significantly increase recycling of plastics. Until recycling is 100% effective however, it remains necessary to work on responsible use of plastics and to reduce unnecessary use of plastics. This helps decrease plastics waste and littering, while reducing costs for businesses at the same time. The reduction of raw materials use is an essential step in any ecodesign strategy.

Each Signatory will be able to use their most accurate year of collected data as the baseline for the absolute reduction target. This is to ensure that the Pact can welcome all members aligned with its vision to bring about a truly circular European plastics economy.

Data reporting from Signatories directly contributes to the annual European Plastics Pact report. Companies are expected to provide data related to Target 1,2 and 4. Governments and the Waste Management sector are expected to provide data related to Target 2 & 3. All Signatories are asked to include priorities and achievements related to their relevant Targets and to provide case study examples of progress towards the targets.

The four objectives in the Pact provide the direction we individually and collectively strive towards. They are voluntary and not legally binding. To help achieve those goals and further the circular plastics economy in Europe, Signatories:

• cooperate along the value chain at the European level to stimulate the development of innovative solutions;
• exchange best practices and lessons learned;
• invest in working together cross-border to improve and harmonize guidelines, national standards and supporting frameworks.

Participants will report on the efforts they have made in good faith to contribute to these objectives, in relation to the more sustainable solutions they actually have brought to the market. If an objective or commitment is deemed to be untenable or inapplicable on a company-wide scale, the company may of course report this according to the “comply or explain” principle.

The governance and reporting will be set up to be as simple, clear and efficient as possible to limit workload and administrative burden:

Working group and steering committee meetings will be organized as efficiently as possible in order to limit the need for travel.

Reporting will be harmonized with existing financial and other reporting mechanisms. Participants will be able to use existing reports for national pacts or global commitments, supplemented with a European Plastics Pact section.

The four ‘bold, quantifiable and aspirational goals’ as mentioned in the Pact are challenging to reach. Especially because there are many uncertainties in the process towards 2025. We need new innovations coming to the market, we need courage and creativity of all stakeholders involved, we are dependent on legal structures and we are dependent on the development of the global market. But the goals give direction in our individual and collective efforts. In the end we all have to explain what actions we have developed, which achievements we have accomplished, and to what extend we have reached our goals. And hopefully we will have reached the targets set, only because we have the aspiration, the willingness and perseverance to do the utmost within our capabilities to create the circular plastics economy we all wish to create.

All targets can be measured relative to the total turnover of each company in order to prevent interference of the prosperity of the business with the results of the efforts taken by the individual company to reach the goals as mentioned in this Pact.

The Pact takes in the entire value chain and all stages of the plastics life cycle: production, conversion, distribution, use and waste management. It aims to be complementary to existing initiatives. In particular:

• the New Plastics Economy Global Commitment ­ led by the Ellen MacArthur Foundation; the EMF has been a major contributor to the European Plastics Pact and the vision of the Pact is aligned with the Global Commitment.
• the Circular Plastics Alliance led by the European Commission; the CPA focuses on recycling and reuse of plastic recyclates. The Commission supports the work on the European Plastics Pact and follows it closely as an observer.
• national pacts in different European countries; the Pact was built on existing national pacts with the aim to add European cooperation and exchange, not to duplicate national work. The goals set in the Pact may differ slightly from the different national pacts.

The pact does not create a parallel process competing with EU discussions. Instead, it intends to support and strengthen them:

• by helping governments and companies to comply with EU regulations;
• by building up inspiration for new EU initiatives, for example on the framework for food containers;
• by ensuring that there will be no deterioration in the level of environmental and consumer protection.

From June 2022, European Plastics Pact Signatories will fund the Pact through an annual contribution. The annual contribution is a flat fee.

If you are a stakeholder in the plastics value chain or a government and wish to join the European Plastics Pact, please email the secretariat EuropeanPlasticsPact@wrap.org.uk

In case you have general questions regarding the Pact, you can direct them to EuropeanPlasticsPact@wrap.org.uk.

If you’re a current European Plastics Pact Signatory, you can access the secretariat via the Basecamp platform, here you will also find our marketing assets, Pact-wide announcements, activity information and documentation for Signatories.

The European Plastics Pact welcomes new Signatories to join. If you intend to sign the Pact, please let us know at EuropeanPlasticsPact@wrap.org.uk.

The Pact was launched on the 6th of March 2020 in Brussels in the presence of the ministers, CEOs and the European Commission. Following a series of working group meetings and consultation with Signatories, the European Plastics Pact roadmap was published on 16^th December 2020, setting a path towards 2025.

Signatories are invited to join the following working groups, if interested:

• Working Group 1 – Reusability and Recyclability
• Working Group 2 – Responsible Use of Plastics
• Working Group 3 – Collection, Sorting, Recycling
• Working Group 4 – Use of Recycled Plastic