Motivation: Plastics are versatile materials with applications in numerous sectors. They contribute to effective resource protection during their usage phase but a great challenge is increasing amount of unmanaged plastic waste and its environmental impact. Meanwhile, plastic waste is a valuable raw material. Appropriate management reduces environmental pressure and brings economic benefits. The transition to circularity is a strategic objective of the EU but it involves numerous obstacles. This article deals with these issues. Aim: The purpose of the article is to indicate the scale of losses in one of key waste stream — plastic waste — by looking at origin, way of collection and treatment of end-of-use plastics. The analysis aims to show the level of recycling in relation to the demand for plastic (as commonly used recycling indicator refers only to the plastic waste collected), the way the plastic waste is managed in various sectors and the specific barriers to its recycling. Results: Recycling of plastic waste accounts for only about 5–10% of the total demand for plastic. Overall, post-consumer plastic waste collected for treatment constitutes 49% of plastics production. 32.5% of those collected plastics is recycled, compared with 25% of plastics landfilled and 42.5% recovered for energy. Still a lot of plastic waste is exported to developing countries, some is hidden in untracked trade flow or illegal landfills. The EU is shifting from linear to circular approach but it is only the beginning of economic transformation towards plastics circularity.
This article aims to analyze the process of energy transformation in Germany and renewable energy state support as an example of a strategic and effective policy. Energy transition in Germany, which leads to replacement of conventional energy with renewable sources and increase of energy efficiency is a long-term project requiring a strong state intervention. This project is supported with European Union green energy policy giving favorable legal and institutional framework for green technologies development. The process of energy transformation in Germany started more than two decades ago and nowadays this economy benefits from growing number of new jobs and export of high-tech products. The article analyzes the concept of "green growth" in the EU, which is both determinant and the effect of energy transformation in Germany. It discusses support mechanisms and instruments for German green energy sector, transformation goals in that area, financing sources and the most important economic effects.
Motivation: Plastics are valuable materials covering a wide range of applications in everyday life and have the potential to be recycled many times while retaining their value and functional properties. However, the scale of the problem associated with improper management of plastic waste in the EU is enormous, which entails economic costs (the potential associated with the recycling of plastic waste remains largely unexploited) and irreversible losses for the environment. Solving the problems of plastic waste becomes the strategic goal of the EU, which takes action to support transition towards a circular economy and adopts first-ever Europe-wide strategy on plastics. These issues are current and important. Aim: The aim of the article is to assess the previous efficiency of plastic waste management in the EU countries which, so far, results from the implementation of national policies. The Strategy for Plastic waste will be also discussed as a response to contemporary challenges and as an element of achieving the goals of sustainable development and circular economy. Results: In the last years, the efficiency of plastic waste management have improved but still a huge share of plastic is wasted. The challenge is to increase recycling rates and to change unfavorable structure of plastic waste reuse: at this time energy recovery rate (41.6%) is still higher than the recycling rate (31.1%), and the recycling rate only slightly exceeds the landfill rate (27.3%). The second problem concerns single-use plastic packaging which accounts for about 60.
Plastic is one of the world's most-used materials. Unfortunately, its widespread use is also connected with a large amount of waste. The main challenge of modern economies, including Poland, is the transition into a circular economy, which aims to minimize the amount of waste generated and the use of unavoidable waste as resources through recycling processes. The aim of the article is to indicate the degree of Poland's transformation in the area of plastic waste recycling. Poland produces less plastic waste than the EU15, but the level of recycling is lower than the EU average. The recycling of plastic waste is largely based on easy-to-collect waste from commercial networks and transport. A further increase in the recycling rate will be possible when the selective collection and recycling of household waste is intensified. Both campaigns promoting the ecological awareness of inhabitants and systemic actions aimed at increasing the degree of use of recyclable materials are necessary.
Purpose: This article aims to compile and analyze initial data on the impact of the pandemic on the amount of plastic waste generated and the plastic waste management system in the EU. Design/Methodology/Approach: Methods used in this study are statistical and intuitive. To a great extent, the considerations are based on recent literature (the time of pandemic) and secondary data. Statistics are delivered from reports and databases: Eurostat, PlasticsEurope (associations representing plastics producers), The Ellen MacArthur Foundation (a charity working with business, government & academia to build a framework for a CE), Research and Markets Reports. Findings: One of the EU's most important objectives is closing the circular economy, i.a., for plastic waste. The COVID pandemic has posed new challenges to achieve it (1) extra pressure: more plastic waste, mainly single-use which are mostly not recyclable (leading to inappropriate management strategies, including mobile incineration, direct landfills, and local burnings); (2) the implications of the lockdowns for the recycling industry: loss of valuable secondary raw material due to shutting down/temporarily cease operating in many converting plants and the record low prices of virgin plastics resulting from the falling oil prices on world markets. Practical Implementation: This article is a compilation and an analysis of preliminary data on the impact of the pandemic on the amount of plastic waste generated and on the recycling industry in the EU. This issue is important both because of the magnitude of the plastic waste problem by itself (in the pre-pandemic time) and the ongoing implementation of the circular economy in the EU (despite the pandemic). Originality/Value: The plastic waste surge's economic and environmental impacts due to pandemic have not yet been thoroughly analyzed, as the COVID-19 pandemic is ongoing (its implications are sure to be felt for a long time to come).
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