Deadlines have to be respected, says the European Commission in response to calls by industry to lift an EU-wide ban on some single-use plastic items because of health and hygiene concerns raised during the COVID-19 outbreak. “The Commission’s position continues to be that deadlines in EU law have to be respected,” said Vivian Loonela, the EU Commission spokesperson for environmental matters.
The single-use plastic directive was adopted in June last year and introduced bans on a selected number of throw-away items such as cutlery, beverage cups, balloon sticks, straws and cotton bud sticks. The objective was to reduce marine litter, 80% of which is land-based, the European Commission said at the time, pointing out that 4.6-12.7 million tonnes of plastic waste find their way into the world’s oceans each year.
But the coronavirus pandemic has thrown Europe into “a completely different world where hygiene and consumer health will be the number one priority,” argued the European Plastics Converters (EuPC), a trade association. However, the Commission dismissed the health and safety argument put forward by the European plastic industry. Separately, the Commission also issued guidelines to EU member states in order to ensure safe handling of the growing amount of medical waste generated during the pandemic.
Source: edie.net
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