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On December 23, the European Commission announced a new package of measures to boost the "circular economy" and "strengthen Europe's plastic recycling." The package includes a draft Commission Implementing Regulation setting out criteria to determine when plastic waste ceases to be waste. The proposed Regulation covers "mechanical" and "physical" recycling of plastics, where both processes retain the polymeric chains that constitute the plastic, for thermoplastic polymers and blends of thermoplastic polymers (regardless of the polymer type). At this stage, the proposed Regulation does not take into consideration chemical recycling or other types of plastic. The draft includes an annex setting out criteria for plastic waste used as input material as well as requirements regarding treatment processes and product quality. Plastic waste recycled in compliance with this Implementing Regulation, once adopted, will no longer be considered as waste but as a product.
The draft Implementing Regulation is open to review and feedback until January 26, 2026.
As part of the package, the Commission also submits to the Member States new rules for calculating, verifying, and reporting recycled content in polyethylene terephthalate (PET) single-use plastic beverage bottles, which include chemically-recycled content.
We note that despite the Commission's statement that the package will "strengthen Europe's plastic recycling," it does specifically provide incentives to use plastic recycled in the European Union.
the Commission is presenting an implementing act to create EU-wide end-of-waste criteria for plastics under the Waste Framework Directive. Setting EU-wide standards on when recycled materials are again considered materials for re-use is a key step to establish a Single Market for recycled plastics, simplify administrative procedures for recyclers, particularly small and medium-sized enterprises, and ensure a stable supply of high-quality recyclates across Europe.
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