Report: U.S.-EU Virtual Workshop on Plastics Recycling Standards and Definitions to Support Transatlantic Trade

Published

November 4, 2024

Author(s)

Noah Last, Laure Baillargeon

Abstract

This report was written following a virtual government-to-stakeholder event hosted on October 1, 2024 by the U.S.-EU Trade and Technology Council (TTC)'s Plastics Recycling Workstream of Working Group 1: Technology Standards, with representatives from the United States Government and European Commission. The event brought together stakeholders from the U.S. and EU with expertise in the plastic recycling industry and plastic recycling standards and/or transatlantic trade to answer the question "Which plastics recycling standards and definitions matter the most for EU-U.S. trade?" This report summarizes the feedback received from stakeholders and provides a high-level analysis of the priorities raised by EU and U.S. stakeholders. Consensus was that more multi-stakeholder dialogues should be prioritized moving forward, such as workshops like this, working groups, and official collaborations like that between the Association of Plastics Recyclers (APR) in the U.S. and RecyClass in the EU. These engagements may focus on themes from this workshop like food-grade packaging, recycled material quality, substances of concern, and recycled content and chain of custody. These engagements should consider including stakeholders from U.S. and EU governments, the private sector, and standards organizations like ANSI, ASTM and CEN. A list of relevant existing standards, standards under development, and needed standards was also developed. The U.S.-EU Trade and Technology Council (TTC) supported the organization of this event. The TTC aims to promote U.S. and EU competitiveness and prosperity and the spread of democratic, market-oriented values by increasing transatlantic trade and investment in products and services of emerging technology, strengthening our technological and industrial leadership, boosting innovation, and protecting and promoting critical and emerging technologies and infrastructure.

Citation

(Maybe) U.S.-E.U. Trade and Technology Council (TTC)

Pub Weblink

https://ustr.gov/useuttc

Pub Type

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Keywords

standards, terminology, transatlantic trade, plastic recycling, recycled content, European Union, circular economy

Citation

Last, N. and Baillargeon, L. (2024), Report: U.S.-EU Virtual Workshop on Plastics Recycling Standards and Definitions to Support Transatlantic Trade, (Maybe) U.S.-E.U. Trade and Technology Council (TTC), [online], https://tsapps.nist.gov/publication/get_pdf.cfm?pub_id=958975, https://ustr.gov/useuttc (Accessed January 12, 2025)