SPHERE spoke on behalf of the packaging industry at the Assises de l’Economie Circulaire held in Nantes on 30 September and 1st October.
The Assises de l’Economie Circulaire brought together all stakeholders in the sector, in the presence of Mathieu Lefebvre, Minister for Ecological Transition.
Arnaud Leroy, the group’s Director of Sustainable Development, Communications and Institutional Relations, took part in the ‘Making the circular economy a competitive economy’ round-table discussion. For SPHERE, the development of recycled materials must be considered in the light of industrial and economic realities: the cost of energy and materials, competition from virgin materials, and dependence on recycled materials produced outside Europe. The challenge, therefore, is also to provide manufacturers with visibility and regulatory stability, whilst working on eco-design and alternative solutions, particularly using bio-based materials such as bioplastics. This is essential for setting the circular economy on a path towards resilience and long-term sustainability.
Emmanuelle Messéan, Deputy Director of Communications, spoke at the ‘Scaling up bio-waste collection: a major challenge for the circular economy’ round-table discussion. The success of the sector and improvements in bio-waste collection depend above all on simple solutions tailored to real-world uses (door-to-door collection, self-service drop-off points accompanied by educational initiatives, and effective pre-collection tools).
The findings of the CoPack Chair, supported by the AgroParisTech Foundation, show that it is possible to reconcile collection performance with compost quality. Indeed, no disruption to industrial composting or toxicity was observed. Beyond the act of sorting, the recovery of bio-waste addresses agronomic, energy, climate and sovereignty challenges. Our European neighbours, starting with Italy, are demonstrating that ambitious collection schemes and practical solutions can yield significant results. The question is no longer whether to sort bio-waste, but how to make this process simple, efficient and accessible to all.
