http://www.seas-at-risk.org/news_n2.php?page=632

EC Conference presents outcome of public consultation on the Green Paper 
on plastic waste

Brussels, 30th September 2013 --- The European Commission presented the 
initiatives it intends to take to reduce plastic waste. These include a 
ban on landfilling, strengthen recycling targets, and a proposal to be 
released in two weeks on limiting single-use plastic bags.

Seas At Risk welcomes these policy developments, expected to be 
completed before the end of term of the current Commission in May next year.

The EU is keen to legislate to ensure that a radical shift towards a 
circular economy occurs, as laid out in the road map to a resource 
efficient Europe, and the 7th Environmental Action Plan. The Commission 
is committed to finding solutions to the problem of our high plastic 
consumption that increases as GDP increases.

As speaker Helmut Maurer said at the conference “plastic consumption is 
an illness we need to cure”.

At the conference, the Commission presented some of the outcome of 
public consultation on the Green Paper on plastic waste and also devoted 
particular attention to the problem of marine litter. The conference was 
attended by many researchers, policy makers, industry representatives 
and NGOs, including Seas At Risk.

The adverse impacts of plastic on the environment, and on our seas in 
particular, are not a secret. As explained at the conference, 60 animal 
species on the IUCN red list have been recorded suffering the negative 
effects of marine litter, and 280 research papers document harmful 
effects of plastic on marine animals. Researchers also discussed the 
role of endocrine disrupters, which are often found in plastics, in 
causing various diseases. They showed evidence of microplastics being 
ingested by filter feeding marine invertebrates such as the popular food 
species mussels and Scottish scampis.