The EU's ambitions on climate neutrality, strategic autonomy and industrial competitiveness are being tested. Targets are set, regulations are in motion — but the circular systems needed to deliver on them are not yet in place. This is the moment the PLASTICE consortium chose to speak up.
Following the PLASTICE in Action Workshop held in İzmir in November 2025, the project has published a position paper bringing together the insights of policymakers, industry representatives, researchers, financial institutions and civil society organisations. The message is collective, and it is timely: advanced recycling technologies for plastics and textiles are ready, but the conditions for their large-scale deployment are not.
Against the backdrop of the Circular Economy Action Plan, the Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation, and evolving Extended Producer Responsibility frameworks, the paper identifies where the system is falling short — and what needs to change. It addresses concrete recommendations to the European Commission, national and regional authorities, and private actors, calling for the kind of coordinated, cross-level action that policy ambition alone cannot deliver.
"We can no longer rely on virgin materials. Scalable and reliable circular technologies are now a concrete necessity."
— Rocio Milagros Renna, Integrated Water Management & Efficiency Lead at RINA-Consulting
Read the PLASTICE Position Paper and join the conversation on what it will take to make circular plastics and textiles a mainstream pillar of Europe's industrial strategy.
Download the position paper →
About PLASTICE
PLASTICE — New Technologies to Integrate Plastic Waste in the Circular Economy — is a Horizon Europe research and innovation project developing advanced recycling pathways for plastic and textile waste streams that are mixed, contaminated, or difficult to treat through conventional mechanical recycling. The project brings together a European consortium of research institutions, technology companies, and innovation centres.
Project website: https://plastice.eu/
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/plastice/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/people/Plastice/61566612875721/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC_jhgw96tX2er3xxNIHqTGw