The Joint Research Centre (JRC) has developed proposals for EU-wide end-of-waste (EoW) criteria for plastic waste on behalf of the EU Commission.
 

The introduction of EU-wide end-of-waste criteria is intended to eliminate differences between member states and the various actors in the value chain and ultimately promote the use of high-quality secondary raw materials in production processes and a circular economy for plastics, according to a European Commission communication on the publication of the JRC study “EU-wide end-of-waste criteria for plastic waste”. The aim of the study was to develop technical proposals for EU-wide end-of-waste criteria for plastic waste in line with Article 6 of the Waste Framework Directive. The report is said to contain background information on plastics, plastic waste and the recycling value chain, as well as other information relevant to the development of EU-wide end-of-waste criteria. These included, in particular, market-related aspects, technical requirements and standards, relevant legislation, and environmental and human health impacts. It also included an overview and detailed analysis of the national end-of-waste criteria for plastic waste in the Member States. According to the Commission, the technical recommendations were prepared by the JRC on the basis of input from relevant stakeholders in the plastics value chain. In addition to a proposal for a set of EU-wide end-of-waste criteria, they include requirements for input materials, treatment processes and techniques, product quality, quality assurance and the provision of information. According to the study, the scope of the proposals relates to the possible end-of-waste status for all thermoplastic polymer waste and mixtures of thermoplastic polymer waste, regardless of the type and origin of the polymer. In addition, a limitation of the scope of the EoW criteria that should be limited to recycling processes that preserve the molecular structure of the polymers is sugeested. Chemical recycling or other processes in which the structure of the polymers is deliberately changed are not yet considered in the study. However, a corresponding extension of the scope or separate investigations of such processes is said to be not excluded.
 
Sources:

• Communication from the EU Commission (25.11.2024)
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