EUROPEN welcomes the future, growth and innovation-oriented Circular Economy Action Plan 2.0

Brussels, 13 March 2020- EUROPEN welcomes the publication of the European Commission’s Circular Economy Action Plan 2.0, which is an important follow-up measure to the Circular Economy Package of 2018. EUROPEN also supports the European Commission’s Green Deal as the new growth strategy for Europe, aimed at transforming the EU into a fair, prosperous, resource-efficient and competitive economy where there are no net emissions of greenhouse gases in 2050. A growth and innovation oriented circular economy will be crucial to achieving this goal and packaging will play an important role in this context.

EUROPEN will actively engage with policy-makers to communicate how packaging contributes towards achieving the objectives of the new Circular Economy Action Plan. In a first reaction to the publication, Hans van Bochove, EUROPEN Chairman (Coca-Cola European Partners) stated: “We support the ambitions of the European Commission with the new Circular Economy Action Plan. As clearly stated in the Green Deal, achieving a climate neutral and circular economy requires the full mobilisation of industry and the packaging value chain is committed to fully engage in this transition.”

“Taking into account that packaging and packaging waste have already been a major focus of the 2015 Circular Economy Action Plan, proper implementation of these measures is a pre-requisite before adopting more stringent rules. Assessing the environmental, social, product safety and economic impacts of each new legislative measure, especially in view of EU-level bans of some packaging materials for certain applications, will be crucial, to avoid unintended environmental and economic consequences”, he added.

Over the last 20 years, EUROPEN has been a constructive and credible voice of the packaging supply chain in Europe promoting a resource efficient and circular economy. EUROPEN members are continuously innovating along the packaging supply-chain in response to a changing world, while ensuring that products are effective and safe for the consumer.