EPRO and EXPRA welcome the European Commission’s initiative to establish harmonised End-of-Waste (EoW) criteria for plastics across the European Union. A clear and consistent regulatory framework is essential to support the circular economy, strengthen the internal market for secondary raw materials, and provide legal certainty for recyclers, converters, and Producer Responsibility Organisations (PROs). However, careful calibration of the proposed criteria is crucial to avoid unintended consequences that could disrupt established recycling value chains and undermine EU recycling targets.
In practice, the vast majority of plastic recycling operations produce extruded pellets following a melt-flow process. These pellets have historically been considered products under national end-of-waste frameworks and are traded accordingly. The downstream supply chain — particularly converters — is not structured to handle waste materials, nor are converters generally permitted as waste treatment facilities. If recycled plastic outputs that are currently regarded as products were reclassified as waste under the new Regulation, the consequences would be significant.
Such reclassification would trigger waste shipment controls for both intra-EU transport and exports to third countries, require environmental permits for a large number of converters, and create substantial administrative burdens for Member States. It would also risk reducing demand for recycled plastics if converters are unwilling or unable to obtain waste permits. This, in turn, could hinder producers’ ability to meet mandatory recycled content targets under EU legislation, increase Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) fees, and negatively impact Member States’ performance against recycling targets and plastic levy obligations.
Particular concern arises regarding the proposed <1.9% threshold for foreign materials. The shift from the previously discussed ≤2% limit represents not a marginal adjustment but a materially stricter compliance requirement. Due to rounding practices and significant figure conventions, the new threshold effectively requires approximately a 25% reduction in permissible impurities compared to current operational realities. For certain input streams, especially household polyolefins, achieving this level may not be technically or economically feasible without jeopardising viable recycling operations. Targets must therefore reflect what is reasonably achievable across different waste input types and account for measurement stages, particularly where filtration during extrusion reduces foreign material content.
EPRO and EXPRA also stress the importance of technology neutrality. While the draft Act currently focuses on mechanical and solvent recycling in plastic-to-plastic applications, the Waste Framework Directive defines recycling more broadly. Limiting EoW criteria to specific technologies or output applications risks disadvantaging Member States that have developed alternative recycling pathways