PCEP Secretary General to moderate summit debate on creating a coherent circular economy

Brussels, 2 November 2020 – PCEP Secretary General Venetia Spencer will be moderating a debate at the Sustainable Packaging Summit later this month on creating a ‘coherent circular economy’.

The discussion during the online summit, on 12 November, will feature key figures from across the packaging industry including Hans van Bochove (Coca-Cola), Francesca Stevens (EUROPEN), Fatma Sahin (Unilever), Guido Aufdemkamp (FPE), Christian Crepet (Petcore), Graham Houlder (CEFLEX) and Dominic Hogg (Eunomia).

Spencer said: “I am delighted to be moderating this important discussion, featuring so many different actors in the sustainable packaging sector.”

She continued: “From our perspective, the Coronavirus crisis, while creating a global human tragedy and economic disaster, can and should be used as an opportunity to rebuild the entire packaging value chain as a circular economy. In particular, we believe that the investment decisions taken by Member States as part of the EU recovery package should be focused on delivering the circular economy.

“And from the industry side, collaboration along our respective value chains, and even between competing value chains, will be absolutely essential in Europe’s transition towards a coherent circular economy.”

Polyolefins (PO) represented 70% of European plastic packaging demand in 2018, according to a 2019 study carried out for PCEP by Conversio on collection and treatment of PO waste in EU, UK, Switzerland and Norway. The study also found that ​71% of collected post-consumer PO waste in 2019 was packaging and that collected packaging was the source of 83% of post-consumer recycled PO.

Due to Covid restrictions, Packaging Europe’s Sustainable Packaging Summit 2020 has been organised as a series of digital events stretching across October and November, looking at the overall definitions and objectives of sustainability, exploring the practical challenges they entail, and uncovering new ideas and innovations.

For more information, contact Venetia Spencer on info@pcep.eu