EU Commissioner Karmenu Vella speaks at Retail Forum for Sustainability

Our 2018 Retail Forum for Sustainability event: “Plastics at a tipping point – what’s the role for retailers”, on 26th June at the Renaissance Hotel in Brussels was honoured by the presence of the European Commissioner for Environment, Maritime Affairs and Fisheries, Karmenu Vella, and gathered about 100 participants from a broad variety of companies and institutions.

The Commissioner congratulated retailers for their many activities in moving the Circular Economy agenda forward:

"Next year we will celebrate the tenth anniversary of the Retailers' Environmental Action Programme, and we do have a lot to celebrate. It's an excellent instrument, very useful for both the circular economy and the plastics strategy. In the current cycle, most signatories have confirmed their commitments, and I am very pleased to see that all these commitments address key stages in the Circular Economy. Some of these commitments are very impressive. I would single out 100% sustainable sourcing, a review of own brand packaging, challenging recycling and waste reduction targets, and the inclusion of all stores in a food donation program. Some of you have recently taken on even more ambitious commitments, and it's great to see specific actions that prevent or restrict the use of single-use plastics, even before the legislation has come into force."

Click here for the Commissioner's speech, and here for his tweet