Covestro joins new Circular Plastics Alliance

Covestro, together with approximately 100 organisations have signed the founding act of the Circular Plastics Alliance in Brussels on Friday.

The alliance, which was set up by the European Commission, covers all areas of the value chain including manufacturers and processors of plastics, large retailers as well as disposal and recycling companies.

The main objective of the alliance is to help ensure that by 2025, ten million tons of recycled plastics will be used each year in the European Union, in line with the EU Commission's plastics strategy.

The ceremony was attended by more than 350 participants, including Frans Timmermans as First Vice-President of the EU Commission and Elżbieta Bieńkowska, the Commissioner responsible, among other things, for the single market and industry.

Covestro wants to help in the new alliance, among other things, to design plastics from the outset in such a way that they are ultimately easily recyclable.

Covestro has already been an active member of the Alliance to End Plastic Waste, a worldwide network of companies dedicated to reducing waste in the aquatic environment, since early 2019.

The initiative comprises nearly 40 companies from the chemical, plastics, consumer goods and waste management sectors.

“High-quality plastics are practically indispensable in our age - for renewable energies, for example, in electronics and medical technology, for transport and construction. After they have been used, they must be recycled in the sense of closed-loop recycling and must thus be put to new uses,” explained Dr. Markus Steilemann, CEO of Covestro.

“The transformation from linear to circular systems, however, can only be achieved with the support of many partners from different sectors. The foundation of the Circular Plastics Alliance is an important step in this direction. Europe can provide impetus here worldwide.”