#MondayNews : The European plastics system needs significant change within five years to meet long-term circularity and net-zero emissions goals, according to the most recent study by SYSTEMIQ called “ReShaping Plastics – Pathways to a Circular, Climate Neutral Plastics System in Europe. “
👉🏼 SYSTEMIQ - a B Corp - was founded in 2016 to drive the achievement of the Paris Agreement and the UN Sustainable Development Goals, by transforming markets and business models in four key areas: land use, circular materials, clean energy, and sustainable finance.
📝 SYSTEMIQ’s report finds that “a fully circular, net zero carbon emissions plastics system in Europe is possible”. However, achieving it will require “radical innovation, ambitious policies and significant capital investment” - with cooperation between industry, government and civil society the key underlying critical success factor.
Among the report’s key findings, here are a few to keep in mind:
⚫⚪⚪ A redesigned plastics system must address circularity and carbon emissions simultaneously, and to do so must implement both upstream and downstream measures – recycling alone will not suffice.
⚫⚫⚪ The European plastics system’s current adaptations are too slow to align with agreed climate goals, circularity policies and the European Green Deal.
⚫⚫⚫ A collaborative, systemic approach is urgently needed involving all stakeholders
➰ ReShaping Plastics focuses on four of the most important plastic-intensive sectors - packaging, household goods, automotive and construction sectors - and presents six scenarios, outlining which actions should be prioritized for different plastic applications in order to meet circularity and climate mitigation goals. It is great to see that reuse is mentioned several times as a key part of the “Reduction substitution scenario” !
🧠 To achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2050, multiple mature, innovative technologies and approaches need to be developed and deployed in addition to proven circular economy levers to further decrease GHG emissions and decouple plastic from fossil fuel feedstocks.
📚 We urge you to dive into the Executive Summary below, and download the full report through this link.
👏 Congratulations and thank you to SYSTEMIQ for this excellent and insightful report. It clearly outlines how deeply and quickly plastic-intensive sectors have to evolve in order to achieve the Paris Agreement targets.
Here is the link to download english full report : ReShaping Plastics – Pathways to a Circular, Climate Neutral Plastics System in Europe
And here is the link to have access to translations in Deutsche, Spanish and French : https://www.systemiq.earth/reshaping-plastics/