'We cannot recycle our way out of the plastics crisis': EU Commissioner Sinkevičius

We first take stock of the pollution of European seas – with the European Environment Agency highlighting problems in successive reports. "Pollution comes from the shore," Sinkevičius says. "It's industrial pollution. It's urban wastewater that's not being treated properly. It's partly agricultural too. All that pollution gets exacerbated by additional pressures, such as climate change. We see the temperature rise in the sea." So what is being done about that? "On chemical and fertiliser pollution, we have taken concrete steps under our Farm to Fork strategy. But it’s also extremely important that we deal with our waste; for example plastic packaging," Sinkevičius responds.

The Commissioner asserts that there is a "plastics crisis that we cannot recycle our way out of". He warns against "naivety", saying: "Plastic pollution especially, which comes from packaging, is significantly increasing. So you had an increase of recycling, but then the increase of plastic pollution was even more significant. And you basically have this growing gap between the two."

Asked if he has seen much lobbying by industries that are behind single-use packaging, Sinkevičius answers: "We have sometimes had some absurd discussions – the argument that, when there is a certain coating on plastic forks or spoons, that this coating does not make the product single use. And I think civil society was very active in all that. But I'm happy that we have advanced, and we now have 10 products that are under the single-use directive" [which bans their use when sustainable alternatives are easily available]. "But we want to go further," he adds. "We want to get rid of unnecessary packaging. So when you stay in a hotel, I still find it absolutely unnecessary