Plastic Europe?

Plastic waste has emerged as a major environmental, industrial and policy concern in recent years, within Europe and globally. A key gap in debates on the topic, however, is the lack of reliable data on how much plastic waste there actually is.

A study presents new estimates of European (EU 27+3) plastic waste volumes. It finds that Europe generates about 45 million tonnes of plastics waste per year – 50% more than the 25–30 million tonnes assumed by policy-makers and industry.

A key implication is that plastics are not nearly as circular as typically thought: only 15% of end-of-life plastics generated each year are recycled into new materials. The rest are landfilled or burnt to produce heat and power (Material Economics, 2021).

Awareness of the problems of the immense consumption of plastic and the associated problem of plastic waste has already prompted many people to take action. There are numerous examples of best practice from private individuals, initiatives and local authorities on how to avoid plastic or remove plastic waste from sensitive ecosystems such as riverbanks or coastal regions.

For example there is the “Plastic Pirates – Go Europe” Campaign where school classes or extracurricular youth groups can help conduct research on the pollution of bodies of water by collecting plastic waste and uploading data on the amount of waste found on a plattform.

Find more ideas to reduce plastic pollution on our “Green Portal”