Plastics are everywhere in our daily life: they are used in packaging, buildings, cars, electronics, agriculture and other sectors. On 3 July 2021, the EU ban on disposable plastics comes into effect. This will concern straws, cups, cutlery, plates, but also balloon rods.

Single-use plastic products are used once, or for a short period of time, before being thrown away. The impacts of this plastic waste on the environment and our health are global and can be drastic. Single-use plastic products are more likely to end up in our seas than reusable options.

The 10 most commonly found single-use plastic items on European beaches, alongside fishing gear, represent 70% of all marine litter in the EU. According to the directive on single-use plastics where sustainable alternatives are easily available and affordable, single-use plastic products cannot be placed on the markets of EU Member States. This applies to cotton bud sticks, cutlery, plates, straws, stirrers, and sticks for balloons.

It will also apply to cups, food and beverage containers made of expanded polystyrene, and on all products made of oxo-degradable plastic. The EU aims to become a forerunner in the global fight against marine litter and plastic pollution. EU rules aim to reduce the volume and impact of certain plastic products on environment.

Plastics production is 20 times higher than in 1960s, and is forecast to almost quadruple by 2050. Although there are thousands of types of plastics, 90% of plastics are derived from virgin fossil fuels. About 6% of global oil consumption is used to produce plastics; by 2050, this share could reach 20%. In Europe, about 40% of post-consumer plastic waste is incinerated with energy recovery, and the rest is either landfilled or recycled. About half of the plastic waste collected and recycled is treated in the European Union; the other half is exported, mainly to China.

plastic waste (T)

reduction of the environmental impact of plastics (T)

9th parliamentary term

EU Strategy for Plastics and packaging

Infoclip: Alternatives to single use plastics

End of single use plastics: statement by the rapporteur of the EP Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety

EP Plenary session - Failure of the negotiations in Busan for a UN plastic treaty and the urgent need to tackle plastic pollution at international and Union level

EP Plenary session - Need to adopt an ambitious international legally binding agreement on plastic pollution, including in the marine environment

EP Plenary session - Voting session (part 1) incl. packaging waste and air quality

EP Plenary session - Preventing plastic pellet losses to reduce microplastic pollution

EP Plenary session - Commission statement - Recent ecological catastrophe involving plastic pellet losses and its impact on micro plastic pollution in the maritime and coastal habitats

Packaging and packaging waste: extracts from the debate (21/11); and extracts from the votes

Voting session: Packaging and packaging waste

Press conference on the Net-Zero Industry Act

EP Plenary session - Packaging and packaging waste

Packaging and packaging waste: closing statements by Virginijus SINKEVIČIUS, European Commissioner for Environment, Oceans and Fisheries and by Nils TORVALDS (Renew, FI), Rapporteur

World Environment Day 2023 - English

Packaging and packaging waste: opening statements by Nils TORVALDS (Renew, FI), Rapporteur, Patrizia TOIA (S&D, IT), ITRE Committee, Virginie JORON (ID,FR), IMCO Committee, and Virginijus SINKEVIČIUS, EC for Environment, Oceans and Fisheries

Infoclip: Packaging and packaging waste

6 facts about packaging waste

Impact on fisheries marine litter: statement by Catherine CHABAUD (Renew, FR), Rapporteur, extracts from the debate and the vote

Impact on fisheries of marine litter: report by Catherine CHABAUD (Renew, FR), and statement by Virginijus SINKEVIČIUS, European Commissioner for Environment

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