Karl Falkenburg, the Director General of Environment at the European Commission, said a long-term approach is needed to address the effects of low oil prices.
Speaking at a conference on the circular economy in Brussels, he said a constant problem for addressing this issue was “short-term industrial and policy decisions”, Materials Recycling World reported.
He said: “I remain convinced that raw material prices will increase and, in the longer term, the direction we are travelling makes sense. We need to make sure we don’t go to quantity: we need to continuously increase the quality of our recyclates. That’s the best way to fight against price variations.”
Falkenburg ruled out subsidy as a viable option but said there was scope within government procurement for creating incentives for using recycled materials. Last week, The Recycler reported that the raw materials that go into making ink were rising, despite low oil prices. Gum rosin, nitrocellulose and vegetable oils were notable examples of ink raw materials that had spiked.