Can leading European scientists solve the plastic crisis?
![Can leading European scientists solve the plastic crisis?]()
Extended manufacturer responsibility. A deposit system. These are just a couple recommendations to the European Union on how to integrate packaging plastics into a circular economy. The Director of the Institute of Macromolecular Chemistry AS CR Jiří Kotek accepted the invitation to discuss these issues with Michael Londesborough on the series “Let’s talk about it”.
Keeping plastics in the loop
In March 2020, a document called “Packaging plastics in the circular economy” from EASAC (the European Academies Science Advisory Council) was published. The document includes seven recommendations to the European Parliament concerning responsible packaging plastic management. Will the European Parliament take it under consideration? Possible adopted measures will affect not only state administrative bodies, manufacturers and retailers, but also consumer behavior.
What is EASAC?
EASAC is an association of the EU member states’ Academies of Sciences. As they themselves say, they are “the voice of independent science in Brussels”. EASAC’s objective is to provide the European Union with recommendations that are based on the knowledge and results of independent scientific bodies.
In the document “Building Science into EU Policy –The National Science Academies of the EU Member States”, EASAC separates itself from special interest groups. EASAC is not financially dependent on the commercial sphere. Its operation expenses are divided among and covered by individual academies of sciences and the selected experts work on a purely voluntary basis.
Scientists comment on the plastic crisis
In the interview, Jiří Kotek talks about reasons to limit the production of bioplastics or the undervaluation of energy utilization of plastics as a part of a comprehensive recycling strategy. What are some of the other recommendations? What did conclusions did Jiří and Michael come to regarding the plastic crisis?
You can find out from the interview here.