You're listening to the European Parliamentary Research Service podcast on plastics in a circular economy.

Since they entered industrial production, plastics have pervaded consumer goods and modern life.

They're cheap to produce, lightweight and durable, but also can persist in the environment for hundreds of years.

To address this global problem, the Commission has identified plastics as a priority area in its circular economy action plan,

and is preparing more targeted measures to help Europe improve recycling and cut marine litter.

Objectives also shared by the European Parliament. Stay with us.

Modern life is unthinkable without plastic. In 2014, over 310 million tonnes of this material

were produced globally – that's 20 times more than in the 1960s, and production could

quadruple by 2050.

Although there are over 1,000 different types of plastic, 90% of them are derived from

virgin fossil fuels, representing over 6% of global oil consumption.

In 2014, nearly 26 million tonnes of plastic waste was collected in the EU plus Norway and Switzerland.

Two-fifths of this waste was incinerated with energy recovery and the rest was either landfilled or recycled.

Half of the plastic waste recycled

is treated in the EU

but the other half is recycled outside Europe

mainly in China

but why is plastic so widespread?

Well it's cheap to produce

it's extremely versatile and it's durable

so it's very well suited for the modern

produced-consumed throwaway

...