Dear Reader,
With the end of this year so close we can take a look back at the very busy times we had with the numerous challenges but also opportunities, arising from the revised waste legislation, and especially the respective acts clarifying the details as how and where to measure recycling, how to define in a fair and transparent manner average loss rates, etc.
The Plastic being the buzz word in 2019, we also witnessed the adoption of the Singe Use Plastic Directive with unprecedented speed not seen before here in Brussels, without exhaustive public consultation, somehow focusing on emotions and not on facts and figures and whose proper implementation in Member States will require further clarifications and guidance. There are of course many other measures targeting plastic as the proposed “Plastic Text” and other initiatives just to name the Circular Plastics Alliance supported by DG GROW and the EU Plastics pact, where for example the Governments of France and The Netherlands demand that 70% of all plastic packaging should be recycled by 2025 (new MP) which seems even theoretically impossible.
The implementation of all these new legislative pieces, measures and initiatives will indeed require very good coordination of how they will be implemented in the different Member States and to ensure that we will not end with 28 or 27 ways of transposing them in the MS National legislations.
The elected this year new MEPs and the new European Commission have put even more the focus on environmental issues – just few days ago the new European Commission unveiled its ambitious plan to make the EU the first climate neutral continent in the world by 2050 -the EU Green Deal. Still, while we in Europe are of course proud to be the leader in sustainable waste management and fight with litter and negative impact on climate, it should be underlined that joint efforts from other Asian and African counties are needed as well!
And as you could see in our members news section, all EXPRA members are working hard in prevention, promoting sustainable packaging and implementing numerous national and local information and public awareness campaigns. We at EXPRA see these activities as a major prerequisite for the implementation of our mission: to save resources and care for the environment, without making a profit out of it.
Internally, during the EXPRA fall General Assembly meeting in November, we had to say good bye to Todor Bourgoudjiev, who is retiring. Todor was a member of EXPRA BOD and CEO of ECOPACK Bulgaria – one of EXPRA founding members. He will be missed and we at EXPRA are grateful for his strong beliefs in EPR, his dedication to EXPRA and his constant support.
As we are looking forward to the many new challenges, awaiting us in 2020, I would like to wish you relaxed holidays, Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
Enjoy your reading!