Focus

Focus
GENERAL issue
EUROPEAN PLASTICS CONVERTERS NEWSLETTER
PROVIDes EUPC MEMBERS WITH A BRIEF OVERVIEW OF
EUPC ACTIVITIES AND ISSUES
June 2012
Plastics & Composites Innovation Days 2012
took place on the 1 June in Vienna
Rudolf Strohmeier, EC Deputy Director General
for Research, giving presentation
At the EuPC General Assembly Bernhard
Borgardt was re-elected as EuPC president for
another 2 years. New members were assigned
to the EuPC Steering Committee as well: Ton
Emans (EuPR / Director Group Recycling of
CeDo), Tom Debusschere (EPPA / CEO
Deceuninck), Florence Poivey (Federation de la
Plasturgie / Chairman of the Supervisory Board
of Union Plastic), Dominique Clerbois
(Federplast / General Manager BU plastics
integration of Solvay), Bjørn Arild Hoem
(Packaging Division / Vice President Northern
Europe of Sphere), Heinz-Günter Sauerhoff
(GKV / Managing Director of TER HELL IT).
You can find more information on the new
EuPC Steering Committee members here:
http://www.plasticsconverters.eu/organisation/
intorg/steering. At the same time David Williams
was nominated Honorary Past President of
EuPC for all his personal efforts and
contributions to the European plastics
converting industry.
On the 31 May several market division sessions
with high level speakers were held. The
Packaging innovation forum had separate
sessions for Flexible and Rigid packaging,
where issues of recycling, innovation
challenges and opportunities for packaging, EU
strategy were discussed. In the Automotive &
Transport session presentations on the
automotive market, eco-mobility, R&D activities
were made. Building & Construction forum
focused on innovations for Building &
Construction applications. At the Technical
Parts session the importance of the intelligent
plastic products, key technologies and new
materials were exposed. Furthermore at the EU
funded projects networking session participants
had the opportunity to have individual talks on
project management, new project development
regarding the 7th EU Framework Programme.
More info: ruta.tamosiunaite@eupc.org
The European Commission launched a
public consultation on the Industrial Policy
Communication 2012
The European Commission industrial policy
flagship of 2010 laid out a strategy for
sustainable growth, competitiveness and job
creation in the context of Europe 2020. The
2012 review of the industrial policy
communication will be adopted by the
Commission in September 2012. The new
communication should focus on a limited
number of new initiatives capable of effectively
delivering results to tackle the economic crisis
in the short to medium term, as well as actions
aiming at correcting or eliminating problems that
may have been detected in the implementation
of our industrial policy strategy. The responses
to the questionnaire will help the Commission
identify policy priorities and develop appropriate
policy responses. EuPC has submitted its
position.
Source: http://ec.europa.eu
More info: padraig.nolan@eupc.org
The Committee for Risk Assessment (RAC)
has adopted by consensus its opinion
concluding that the proposed restriction of
four classified phthalates (DEHP, DBP, BBP,
and DIBP) in articles is not justified
Helsinki, 15 June 2012 – In 2011, the Danish
competent authorities made a restriction
proposal with the aim of limiting exposure to
humans from the four phthalates in consumer
articles.
At its meeting, attended by EuPC expert Walter
Claes, RAC concluded that the available data
does not indicate that there is currently a risk
from combined exposure to the four phthalates.
In addition, RAC was of the opinion that the
existing regulatory measures and the
consequential reduction in use would further
reduce exposure. On the basis of these
considerations, RAC concluded that the
proposed restriction is not justified.
ECHA´s Committee for Socio-economic
Analysis (SEAC) noted a steady decline in the
use of these phthalates over the last decade.
This trend is expected to continue, and is
thought to be further strengthened by the
authorization requirement for the four
phthalates. Considering the uncertainties
regarding the future exposure RAC
recommended bio monitoring and following up
of use trends for the four substances.
This was the first time since the adoption of
REACH that a combined assessment approach
was used. It is important to note that RAC did
not question the principle of addressing risks
through combined exposure if the substances
act similarly. For example, in the case of the
four phthalates, they all show anti-androgenic
properties.
Following the RAC conclusions that the
proposed restriction was not considered
justified, SEAC concluded that they would have
no basis for a supportive opinion as risk was
not demonstrated. The draft opinion of SEAC
will be submitted for public consultation for sixty
days with their final opinion to be adopted in
December 2012 at the latest. Excellent team
work between VinylPlus, EuPC and EuPR.
Source: http://echa.europa.eu
More info: walter.claes@eupc.org
EU-conference on Endocrine Disruptors,
Current challenges in science and policy on
11-12 June
The European Commission has organized a
two-day conference addressing the challenges
of endocrine disruptors with societal
stakeholders. This conference feeds the ongoing
review of the EU strategy on endocrine
disruptors, which may impact the Horizon 2020
priorities and REACH by mid-2013. EuPC
attended with Joachim Eckstein, Walter Claes
and Wouter Geurts.
Conference speakers included European
Commissioners from DG ENV, DG Research,
DG JRC and DG SANCO, leading scientists
and policy makers from the USA and the EU.
Further, Danish officials, the OECD, CEFIC and
industrial stakeholders (CEFIC) and several
societal NGOs presented their point of view.
The conference addressed the definition of
endocrine disruptors, existing challenges in
their identification and assessment, the current
state-of-science and related policy objectives.
Endocrine disruptors are exogenous
substances able to alter functions of the
endocrine system thereby causing adverse
health effects in an organism, its progeny or its
population. Endocrine disruptors typically
interfere with the hormonal signalling systems in
the body. It is a challenging task to identify
endocrine disruptors, their impact and the
sources of exposure, to develop fair and
efficient policies that protect the general
interest. Due to the complexity of the endocrine
system this is not such a self-evident task;
chocolate for instance interacts with the
hormonal system, but is not to be considered to
contain an endocrine disruptor because it is not
causing an adverse health effect. One key
message of the conference relates to the need
for consensus on clear test methodologies and
clear criteria to identify endocrine disruptors and
build coherent policies.
The conference also illustrated growing
concerns from the side of NGOs on health
effects, and the existence of knowledge gaps
on the level of ecotoxicology. Further, recent
technologies such as computer modelling (in
silico screening) may contribute to faster
screening and identification of potential
endocrine disruptors.
© EuPC - European Plastics Converters - Avenue de Cortenbergh 71 - 1000 Brussels - Belgium

EuPC, along with CEFIC and Plastics Europe,
calls for a clear and science-based regulatory
framework. Building blocks already in place
such as the OECD test guidelines and the
existing legislative restrictions may support the
implementation of coherent policies. EuPC will
closely monitor the developments on the issue
and inform its members on relevant
developments.
More info: Wouter.geurts@eupc.org
Green Paper on Plastics
DG Environment finalised the Green Paper on
Plastics and it was sent in the European
Commission inter-service consultation early
June.
By end of July 2012 the document should be
adopted by the Commission and a stakeholder
consultation should begin soon after. EuPC is
closely following this topic.
More info: antonino.furfari@eupc.org
End-of-Waste Criteria
The 2nd Experts Workshop was organised on
the 22nd May by the JRC in Sevilla. During the
meeting, the 2nd working document was
analysed and several pending issues where
cleared.
The various stakeholders have until the 2nd
July to answer the 15 new questions asked by
the JRC in the 216p document. EuPC is
working with various associations in order to
build a common industry position paper on the
2nd working document.
It is probable that no extra workshop will be
needed in order to finalise the JRC
recommendations to the Commission. Once
these are received by the Commission, they will
begin the drafting of the measures for end-ofwaste
criteria for plastic.
Following this the Commission will be able to
submit draft measures to the Regulatory
Committee for approval.
More info: antonino.furfari@eupc.org
Update on WFO activities
During the EuPC Innovation Days on the 1st of
June, WFO organized a session during the
Plastics & Composites Innovation Days 2012 in
Vienna where participants from the industry
were briefed by the MEP and chairwoman of
the Foundation, Mrs. Anna Rosbach about the
importance of the initiative and the successful
achievements reached at this time. After the
conference, the participants moved to the Port
of Vienna where, with the collaboration of the
University of Vienna, the participants had the
possibility to see how the Thomsea trawl works
in the rivers and the technique of the floating
debris collection.
WFO Turkey - “Happy Fish” is a project started
with the collaboration of Turkish Plastics
Manufacturers Research, Development and
Educational Foundation (PAGEV). The launch
took place in Büyükada, Istanbul / Turkey. The
project is supported by the Ministry of
Environment and Urbanization of Republic of
Turkey, Turkish Marine Research Foundation
(TÜDAV) and Municipality of Adalar (Princes’
Islands).
WFO Saïda landfill project - WFO is
undertaking a project on the possible removal
of part of the plastic waste from the
Mediterranean that originates from the Saïda
landfill. The project will be conducted in
different phases in order to acquire a better
understanding of the nature and the extent of
the problems. WFO will thus also focus its
efforts on the floating debris of the coast of
Saïda. In subsequent phases: the feasibility
and the impact of the identified solutions will
have to be assessed; WFO might contribute to
the actual removal of the waste in the
Mediterranean, off the coast of Saïda, that
originates from the landfill.
WFO Sweden - on the 22nd of May Waste
Free Oceans organized a panel discussion in
the European Maritime Days 2012 (Sweden)
about the economic implications of marine litter,
highlighted how marine litter affects key sectors
that rely on the marine environment.
The speakers of the panel were the Ministry of
the Environment of Sweden, Mr. Anders
Flanking, Prof. Michael Scoullos from the
University of Athens, Mrs Monica Jagholt Gripp,
President of KIMO, Mr Bernard Merxk, Project
Manager of WFO and Mr. Chris Carroll, Policy
Officer of Seas at Risk.
WFO Hungary. Under the Waste Free Danube
project, on the 11 of July 2012 the launch of
Waste Free Danube Hungary will take place.
The session is divided in a Forum and a
demonstration of debris collection with the
THOMSEA system. The speakers of the Forum
will be Mrs. Anna Roach (MEP and chairwoman
of WFO), Mr. Bernard Merx (Project Manager of
WFO), Mr. Ton Emans (EuPR President), Mr.
Phillip Weller (International Commission for the
Protection of the Danube River), Dr. László
Fülöp (CEO of company TKV Zrt.) and other
high level speakers.
WFO Denmark. On June15th during the
Bornholm event, Danish trade association
Plastindustrien organised the launch of the
WasteFree Oceans Denmark project in the port
of Allinge, where two local fishermen
succesfully used the WFO trawl to collect
floating debris from Allinge Havn.
A lot of visitors also came to the tent placed in
the port where additional information was given
and videos were shown to raise more
awareness on the topic. The workshop
organised in the afternoon attracted national
and international audience and interviews were
given on national media by Mr. Peter Skov,
managing director of Plastindustrien.
This event was also the formal kick-off for
WasteFreeBaltic, a new project under the
umbrella of WasteFreeOceans, where jointly
with local and international partners, additional
activities will be organised in the forthcoming
period in the Baltic Sea region.
More info: alvaro.fernandez@eupc.org
Website: www.wastefreeoceans.eu
Update on EU-projects
EuPC is involved in several EU-funded
research projects under the seventh framework
programme. PRIME is a project moving
towards the third and last year. It has received
positive feedback from the Commission on the
progress of the mixed plastics recycling
technique producing sandwich materials that
have a recycled mixed plastics core.
NanoSafePack is assessing migration and safe
handling of nanocomposites with nanoclay and
other anorganic nanofillers. The goal is to
identify the safest possible approach to benefit
from the use of nanofillers for packaging
applications. EuPC has been contributing
towards an integral approach, assessing the
effect of dispersion of the particles on safety
aspects. Controlled production of
nanocomposites is a specific target of another
FP7 project, which has received very positive
feedback, NanoOnSpect. One new project led
by the Technical University of Denmark will
most probably start in January and is named
Plast4Future. Plast4Future will focus on the
development of injection moulding technologies
to produce multifunctional nanostructured
plastic components.
More info: Wouter.geurts@eupc.org
Plastics & Composites Innovation Days 2012
(gala dinner)
2012 EuPC Calendar - Events & Meetings
11 SEP 2012 Packaging Excom Torino
12 SEP 2012 Steering Committee Torino
18 SEP 2012 NPA Meeting Wiesbaden, Germany
19 SEP 2012 NPA Meeting with PlasticsEurope Wiesbaden, Germany
10 OCT 2012 B&C/RM Committees Brussels, EuPC Offices
21-22 NOV 2012 EuPR Plastics Recycling Conference Brussels
27 NOV 2012 Packaging Excom/B&C Excom Brussels, EuPC Offices
28 NOV 2012 Steering Committee Brussels, EuPC Offices
© EuPC - European Plastics Converters - Avenue de Cortenbergh 71 - 1000 Brussels - Belgium
Tel. + 32(0)2-739 63 86 - Fax + 32(0)2-732 42 18 - www.plasticsconverters.eu
For questions please contact Ruta Tamosiunaite - ruta.tamosiunaite@eupc.org