31 associations urge the EU to Adopt Rules to Calculated Plastics’ Chemically Recycled Content

On 22 March 2023 the European Chemical Industry Council (Cefic) and 30 other associations representing market sectors in the European plastics value chain published a joint letter to the European Commission. In the letter they call on the European Commission and Member States to adopt EU harmonized calculating rules for recycled content, by means of mass balance credit method with a fuel-use exempt model, in 2023. The Single Use Plastics Directive (SUPD) Implementing Act should be used as legal foundation.

The mass balance chain of custody tracks specific characteristics and guarantees that the chemically recycled monomers and basic polymers are correctly certified. This methodology is already used in other sectors where sustainable materials are included in a mixed production process such as fair-trade cocoa and chocolate.

In order to reach the EU’s 2050 climate and circularity targets the chemical recycling infrastructure needs investments. The Plastic industry needs legal certainty on the mass balance chain of custody in order to make the necessary investments in the recycling infrastructure.