Shared governance : to each his own

AUTHOR : Bernard LE MOINE, President, APE Europe

Companies have a responsibility to defend their individual interests and their market shares, margins and results. They also have collective interests to defend, particularly with regard to the end-of-life of the products they market. In this area, a single company cannot meet both the requirements of the regulation and the expectations of users. The response must be collective.

Agricultural plastics and environmental impact: first results of the biomaleg project in france

Throughout the agricultural plastics value chain, each actor shares, with all those who are involved with the products, the responsibility of ensuring that the products used can be collected and recycled in the best technical and economic conditions. This reality is not that easy to implement, due to the diversity of products and situations.

The best way to understand the specificities is still to involve all those who participate in this value chain: users, distributors and manufacturers, in the implementation of solutions. This is undoubtedly the best way to find the most appropriate solutions for the greatest efficiency. Finally, this organisation will ensure the sustainability of the system, as well as guarantee the greatest circularity.

Generally speaking, operational conditions are similar almost everywhere. Whatever the product or the region, used plastic will always have to be prepared, grouped, transported, sometimes pre-treated (e.g. baled) and then recycled.

Everyone’s expertise

Practically, each category of actor will be keen to contribute its expertise for each stage of the process:

• Manufacturers will be integrated into a chain to ensure that the products they markets are eligible for collection and disposal. It is not enough for the products to be recyclable, it is also necessary to ensure that they are collected and recycled according to the best standards of the moment.