On September 21 and 22, the meeting of the LIFE Platform on Plastic Waste Recycling was held, organized by the Technical University of Athens. Throughout this forum of exchange between different European LIFE experiences, different working groups were developed, analyzing the fit of LIFE projects with the most current issues in waste management and circular economy.
A selection of specific projects from the different LIFE thematic areas was presented in detail. Within these, the Zero Cabin Waste project was one of the chosen ones. In this presentation ECOEMBES was responsible for giving all the information regarding objectives, development, achievements already obtained, as well as the operational challenges to be faced in the field of air transport, waste management and its replicability at European level.
During the two days of the meeting, we dealt with hot topics such as the role of plastics in a circular economy, the role of LIFE projects and their role in supporting the relevant EU policies, including our project , Zero Cabin Waste. Throughout the presentation the doubts raised by the audience could be resolved, highlighting the importance of being able to replicate the new model of sustainable waste management in other European airports, as well as the importance of being able to overcome the legal barriers related to the management of category 1 (international waste) waste, which currently only covers landfilling or incineration.
Also, four different working groups were developed under the theme of Plastics Collection and Sorting – Moving Beyond the State of the Art, Plastic Marine Litter, Bioplastics and Plastic Reprocessing – Closing the Loop and Creating Market Demand, where the needs were discussed future in terms of waste management and circular economy and the vision that LIFE projects can bring to achieve them.
Specifically, the project Zero cabin Waste participated in the plastics group and Plastic Reprocessing – Closing the Loop and Creating Market Demand.
