The EU Directive on Single Use Plastic – Single Use Plastic

Practicality and multifunctionality, as well as its relatively low cost, make plastic a ubiquitous material in everyday life.
It offers numerous advantages for certain applications: it is easy to model, does not corrode easily, and decomposes slowly (Shen & Worrell, 2014). Precisely because of these inherent characteristics, it is one of the most widely used materials for packaging since it was invented.

The considerably negative impact of plastic waste on our health and the environment is increasingly evident. According to a study by Legambiente, 84 percent of the waste found on Italian beaches in 2020 is plastic, and most of it is mainly single-use items (Legambiente, 2020).
One of the primary problems regarding these alarming data is that single-use products are meant to be used only once and for a short period of time, and then thrown away.

Given the need to find solutions that were more sustainable, the European Union realized that it needed to establish a legal framework that could effectively reduce the adverse impacts from spreading plastics that were not properly recycled.
In this regard, the EU has decided to remedy the problem of single-use plastics by implementing a regulatory intervention that aims to combat pollution, especially marine pollution, caused by their dispersal.
The Single Use Plastic Directive, whose acronym is SUP, came into effect on July 3, 2019, leaving two years for member countries to adapt to the new measures. Therefore, by July 3, 2021, EU member countries should have transposed the directive into their national laws.

The UAS Directive is therefore applicable only to those products that can be defined as disposable, which are usually discarded after only one use or are designed to last only one use. As prepared by the directive, for “disposable plastic product” is meant to be a “product made wholly or partly of plastic and that is not conceived, designed or placed on the market to perform multiple shifts or rotations during its life being returned to a manufacturer for refilling or reused for the same purpose for which it was conceived“.

When there are sustainable alternatives that are readily available and accessible to any person, single-use plastic products may not be placed on the market in European Union member states. For single-use plastic products for which there are no viable alternatives, each individual country that is part of the EU should develop measures to significantly reduce their use.
Different measures have been applied to different products. Going more specifically, the items that are banned by the European directive are the following: cotton swabs (Q-tips); cutlery, plates, straws and stirrers; balloons and balloon sticks; food containers; beverage cups; beverage containers; cigarette butts; plastic bags; packages and wrappers; wet wipes and sanitary ware (European Commission, 2020).
In contrast, with regard to other types of single-use plastic products, the European Union is working to reduce their use not only through awareness-raising measures or through the introduction of design and labeling requirements to better inform consumers on how to dispose of packaging, but also by placing new waste management obligations on producers-the so-called Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR).

As emphasized by the European Commission in the section on this directive, the ultimate goal of introducing these EU rules is to prevent and reduce the impact of certain plastic products on the environment, particularly the marine environment, and on human health (European Commission, 2021). The UAS directive can become a starting point for the transition to a circular economy, in which environmentally, socially and economically sustainable solutions and options are developed.