THE EU POLICY AND LEGISLATIVE FRAMEWORK ON PLASTICS - A comprehensive approach to tackle a challenging environmental problem

Th e objective of the present contribution is to provide an overview of the main elements of the EU policy and legislative framework addressing the environmental impacts generated by plastic products throughout their whole life cycle. The focus is not only on the current measures, but also on the wide range of initiatives planned by the 2020 Circular Economy Action Plan (CEAP) and the other relevant policy documents that are part of the European Green Deal (EGD) strategic package. This analysis shows the complexity of the framework, which consists of many interlinked policy tools, belonging to various policy areas, which often (directly or indirectly) affect multiple stages of the plastic value chain. It also highlights that the measures in place are not equally effective in changing the behaviour of socio-economic actors (particularly producers and consumers) and, hence, contributing to solving the plastic problem. Finally, it suggests which further measures might be introduced, and how the policy design of selected current measures can be improved to increase the effectiveness of the framework..