Production systems, at whatever scale, are changing very fast with a key priority that stands out among the others: sustainability. Turn Europe into a more efficient society in the use of resources, which produces less waste and recovers the inevitable waste as new goods is the main challenge faced by companies, public administrations, social agents and, especially, consumers in the next decade. It is about replacing the already known linear economy, based on extraction, production, consumption and disposal, by a new circular economy, in which waste is reincorporated as secondary raw materials in the production of new products.
This new concept is already being translated into the regulations of European administrations. The Circular Economy Pact, initially promoted by the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries, Food and Environment, currently in charge of the Ministry for the Ecological Transition, arises with the aim of involving the main economic and social agents of Spain in the transition towards this economic model. The Plastic Sense Foundation has joined this pact that has already signed more than 300 companies in our country, on a document that, in brief, is committed to:
1. Advance in reducing the use of non-renewable natural resources.
2. Promote the analysis of the life cycle of the products and the incorporation of eco-design criteria.
3. To support the effective application of the principle of hierarchy of waste.
4. Promote guidelines that increase innovation and the overall efficiency of production processes.
5. Promote innovative forms of sustainable consumption.
6. Promote a model of responsible consumption, based on the transparency of information.
7. Facilitate and promote the creation of adequate channels to facilitate the exchange of information and coordination with administrations, the scientific and technological community and economic and social agents.
8. Disseminate the importance of moving from the linear towards a circular economy.
9. Encourage the use of common, transparent and accessible indicators that allow knowing the degree of implementation of the circular economy.
10. Promote the incorporation of social and environmental impact indicators derived from the operation of companies.
You can consult the Pact document for a complete Circular Economy in this link.
The Plastic Sense Foundation is totally aligned with these missions and objectives. Its main mission is to promote the use and recycling of the PET food tray in Europe, guaranteeing, through the ECOSENSE certification, the transparency and traceability of the incorporation of recycled PET, coming from waste of the value chain of its manufacture and consumption, in new trays. Since the beginning of its activity in 2017, more than 20.000 tons of recycled PET have been reintroduced in new trays.
With its signature, the institution is committed to look for synergies that encourage the ecological transition of companies and administrations, consolidating a model in the sector of the PET food tray – through the reuse of waste, recycling and the generation of knowledge about the recyclability and eco-design of the PET food tray – which will establish a new production process according to present.