Plastics, a product that is understood to never fully ‘disappear’ from the environment, is currently being produced more than 300 million tonnes annually. We have all seen the heartbreaking pictures of dead seabirds that have swallowed everything from toy parts to cigarette butts on the beaches, turtles entangled in six-pack holders, whale carcasses filled with plastics. Even experts in this field are unable to understand the exact scale of the problem.
To help tackle this plastics issue, in 2018 the EU proposed the European strategy for plastics in a circular economy. The strategy aims to “transform the way products are designed, produced, used, and recycled in the EU.” Making recycling more profitable and curbing plastic waste, especially from single-use products, are among the key initiatives of the strategy.