News item | 19-11-2025 | 07:00
Today, State Secretary Thierry Aartsen (Public Transport and Environment), together with a number of other Member States, made a clear appeal to Environment European Commissioner Jessika Roswall: it is time for the European Commission to take action now to support the European plastic recycling industry.
His message: Europe must do what is necessary, even in the short term, because our companies are now under pressure. If we don’t take action, more companies will collapse.
Why this is necessary
- The Commission has announced Circular Economy Act, a new circular economy law. This will be released next year and is expected to provide relief for plastic recyclers. But this route takes time.
- Dutch and European entrepreneurs already have to compete with cheap new plastic that is flooding the market thanks to low oil prices.
- That is not only unfair, it undermines our circular economy and puts the innovative, clean industry that has invested in the future at a disadvantage, as they have to compete with dirt-cheap plastic from outside the EU.
- The Netherlands chooses to protect our own industry: we prefer to make new plastic from old PET bottles here, rather than from petroleum or importing dubious plastic from outside Europe.
What the Netherlands wants from Brussels
- More mandatory use of recycled plastic and bio-plastic for all products sold in the EU. Demand and market creation for innovative clean companies in the Netherlands and Europe. And rapid implementation of existing agreements for, among other things, packaging and disposable plastic. Provide predictable rules so that entrepreneurs dare to invest. Think of clear rules about what, when it comes to plastic, is waste and what is a raw material. And calculation rules for chemical recycling: for example, how can plastic packaging that is chemically recycled count as recycled plastic in new packaging? Clear, unambiguous rules are needed for this.
- A level playing field: anyone who wants to bring plastic to Europe must meet the same conditions as European companies. No dumping of cheap new plastic on our market.
- Broad support for circularity: the demand for recycled plastic must increase and circular entrepreneurs must also be taken into account in other legislation and financing instruments, such as the possibility of fiscal incentives for plastic recycling.
State Secretary Thierry Aartsen (Public Transport and Environment): “Urgent action is required. We are insisting on this in Brussels. We must protect our own entrepreneurs and industry. We have a wealth of raw materials here that we can reuse and we do not want to let them go to waste. The announcement of the Circular Economy Act for next year is extremely important, but Brussels must take action now and also see what is possible in the short term, because our companies now need support. This is not only about a clean future, but also about our strategic autonomy: We would rather make new plastic from recycled plastic here than be dependent on petroleum or dubious plastic from other countries. Because the future of the Netherlands is a clean and strong economy, built on our own innovative industry.”
The statement was sent on behalf of Belgium, France, Luxembourg, Spain and Austria.