The recent meeting of 31 trade associations in the EU highlights the urgency to clarify the legal stance on chemical recycling and the tracking of recycled content in plastic products. The primary concern lies in the tracking of recycled content, with industry stakeholders pushing for the recognition of a mass balance approach that does not include fuel use.

“Mass balance is a transparent and auditable method to trace a defined material characteristic along the value chain from material suppliers to consumers,” the trade associations, which represent chemical producers, plastics converters, recyclers and end-use industries, claim.

“A mass balance chain of custody is already used and accepted in other domains such as sustainable forestry products and fair-trade cocoa and chocolate,” they said.

Essentially, this is a push for policy support from the European Commission and EU member states for chemical recycling that could help speed up investment and add more overall plastic recycling capability.

“The rules currently being developed for the Single-Use Plastics Directive (SUPD) implementing act will have a key impact on both mechanical and chemical recycling investments in Europe,” the associations said.