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Plastic waste management

Plastics are among the key sectors identified in the EU Circular Economy Action Plan. The need for solutions that promote circularity in this sector will be increasing as their consumption is expected to double in the coming 20 years.

Plastic Waste Management refers to the prevention, reuse, recycle, recovery and disposal of plastic waste generated by households and companies in an area. Recycling plastic material refers to the process of recovering waste or scrap plastic and reprocessing materials into functional and useful products. It is important to distinguish different types of plastics in this context:

Source: Woldemar d’Ambrières, « Plastics recycling worldwide: current overview and desirable changes », Field Actions Science Reports, Special Issue 19 | 2019, 12-21.


The benefits of plastic waste management are

  • putting less pressure on virgin materials,
  • giving new life to old plastic porducts
  • shifting from polluting practices to a circular economy.

Product life cycle stages & Modules (EN15978): C1 – C4 End of Life

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Awareness raisingCircular economyCitizen participationStakeholder engagementClimate resilienceWasteMaterials
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