A Step Further Towards Circular Economy

September 20th 2019, European companies, trade organizations and public authorities representing the entire plastics value chains came together in Brussels to sign the Circular Plastic Alliance Declaration.

The Circular Plastic Alliance Declaration endorses the ambitious target of the European Commission to yearly incorporate at least 10 million tonnes of recycled plastic in the production of new products in Europe by 2025. This will help reduce plastic waste and bring us a step closer towards a circular economy. As active TEPPFA member, and as producer of plastics pipe systems, also Pipelife has committed itself to take part in these joint efforts.

Fausto Bejarano, TEPPFA President: "The Declaration is a significant step forward for our industry. Its global reach and high level endorsement by the European Commission acknowledges that plastics have an important contribution to the well being of society today and in the future. We have embarked on an exciting journey and TEPPFA members remain committed to our role in delivering on the overall targets"

Self-imposed target regarding recycled plastic

When it comes to environmental sustainability, Pipelife has high ambitions. In addition to committing ourselves to goals set by public authorities as well as supporting associations and interest groups, we like challenging ourselves by setting our own environmental goals. Our "Sustainability Roadmap 2015-2020" represents a conscious, self-imposed commitment to continuously improve our ecological, social, societal and economic performance along the entire value creation process. One of its targets is to increase the percentage of recycled materials we use for producing new pipes. 

In 2015, we set ourselves the target of increasing the amount of recycled plastic from 64 to 70 kg per ton of newly produced product by 2020. With over 75 kg of secondary raw material used per ton, this target was reached and, in fact, exceeded in 2018. Taking the importance of this topic into account, we set ourselves a new and even more ambitious target: By 2020, we want to use at least 90 kg of recycled plastic per ton of new product.