Consumers are being misled by claims of recyclability on plastic packaging, according to a survey conducted by Ipsos in France, Germany, the UK and Poland at the request of the NGO ClientEarth, which revealed the results on Thursday 31 July.
Between 58% and 72% of consumers perceive plastic products as “environmentally positive” when they are labelled “fully recyclable” or “contains recycled plastic”. 80% of respondents in Poland and Germany believe that products bearing a recycling logo will actually be recycled.
Recycling does not make plastic neutral or beneficial for the environment, insisted ClientEarth. As well as continually degrading plastic, the process “can only ever delay plastic pollution, not stop it”, explained the NGO, which added that, to date, “only 9% of plastic ever made has been recycled”.
However, the NGO points out that plastic production could triple by 2060 “if no significant measures are taken”, according to the OECD, and that countries are still divided ahead of global negotiations on the UN Plastics Treaty (Geneva, 5-15 August) on whether to include the reduction of plastic production in the text. The EU intends to advocate for a treaty covering the entire life cycle of plastics, from raw material extraction to production and waste management (see EUROPE 13679/4).
See the study: https://aeur.eu/f/i39 (Original version in French by Florent Servia)