Stop downcycling our bottles - joint article featured in POLITICO Europe and in The Brussels Times

2021-12-13

The European non-alcoholic beverage industry urgently calls on the European Commission to facilitate fair and necessary access to its recycled plastic (PET) bottles to effectively ’close the bottle loop’.

"Stop downcycling our bottles: Why Europe’s non-alcoholic beverage industry needs fair and necessary access to its recycled packaging" - this is the title of AIJN's featured joint article with Soft Drinks Europe (UNESDA) and Natural Mineral Waters Europe (NMWE). Following the joint statement, in which the 3 organisations directly called on the European Commission to grant priority access to our own recycled plastic (PET) bottles, the European non-alcoholic beverage indsutry's concerns have been published in POLITICO Europe and in The Brussels Times.

MEP Maria Spyraki, co-chair of the European Parliament's Intergroup on Climate Change, Biodiversity and Sustainable Development also contributed to the article and echoed our industry’s concerns:

“For the industry to reuse its recycled packaging material in a closed loop is clearly the way forward. This will contribute substantially to resource efficiency. Therefore, measures to facilitate producers’ access to their recycled material must be encouraged. Circularity is a key component of the Green Deal supporting Europe’s journey towards carbon neutrality.”

Interested to know more?

The POLITICO Europe article is available here.

The Brussels Times article is available here.

Packaging Europe and the French Emballages Magazine have also covered the news in support of the European non-alcoholic beverage industry's claims.