European Associations Welcome European Parliament's Views On Renewables And Recyclables

The European Parliament gave a clear message to the European Commission to address crucial issues in an ambitious circular economy package, according to CEPI (The Confederation of European Paper Industries) and ACE (The Alliance for Beverage Cartons and the Environment). These include ending the landfill and incineration of recyclables, applying mandatory separate collection schemes and making the bioeconomy an integral part of the circular economy.

The European paper and beverage carton industries have called upon the European Commission for a long time to support the industry’s efforts in further improving recycling but also to extend the scope of the circular economy package from reducing waste to including measures that foster responsible sourcing of raw materials and particularly promote the use of responsibly sourced renewable materials.

Marco Mensink, CEPI director general, says, “The European Parliament has now given a clear mandate for making the bioeconomy an integral part of the circular economy. Renewability is nature’s way of circularity, clearly recognized by MEPs in their vote.”

Bertil Heerink, ACE director general, adds, “A well-functioning circular economy will benefit from an increased use of renewable resources. We therefore welcome Thursday’s vote that underlines the importance of shifting from finite to renewable resources. We are looking forward to a constructive dialogue with the European Parliament on all topics related to the circular economy.”

CEPI is a Brussels-based nonprofit representing the European pulp and paper industry. CEPI represents some 515 pulp, paper and board producing companies across Europe and 940 paper mills.  

Also based in Brussels, ACE provides a European platform for beverage carton manufacturers Tetra Pak, SIG Combibloc and Elopak and their paperboard suppliers in Europe, Stora Enso and BillerudKorsnäs, to benchmark and profile cartons as renewable, recyclable and low carbon packaging solutions.