SCP/RAC releases “Priority areas of intervention to curb marine litter from food and beverage plastic packaging in Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Montenegro"

• Plastic packaging, particularly from the food and beverage (FB) sector, represents the largest fraction of marine litter to be found on the beaches, the seafloor and in the water column in the Adriatic Sea.

• Regarding FB plastic packaging littered or ending in dumpsites per person and year, it is estimated at the level of 14 kg in Albania, 7 kg in BiH and 4 kg in Montenegro. To have a feeling of magnitude, the figure in Albania is equivalent of more than 2.6 million of 2L bottles ending in the environment each day.

• The policy brief identifies challenges and priority areas of intervention. A number of those are being addressed by SCP/RAC, for example through incubating the awarded company of a business challenge and the elaboration and promotion of guidelines to reduce single-use plastics through public procurement.

The objective of these activities is to contribute to the prioritization and adoption of preventive measures that tackle plastic packaging in the food and beverage industry, by improving the relevant policy framework, strengthening the engagement of businesses and business support organizations (BSOs) and building other relevant stakeholders’ capacities.

The policy brief builds on the findings of the material flow and policy gap analyses per country which include the estimation of the relative contribution to the generation of mismanaged plastic packaging waste. It notes major progresses achieved and common challenges faced by the three countries in aligning their legal and policy frameworks to the plastic packaging-related Barcelona Convention provisions and European Union (EU) acquis and in moving forward in the transition to a circular economy based plastic packaging system. It finally suggests a set of priority areas of intervention toward those goals, particularly from the public policy perspective.

In this regard, SCP/RAC continues to provide support in the three Adriatic countries through a series of activities. This refers particularly to a regional business challenge to prevent plastic packaging waste whose awardee was recently announced and has started the incubation process. Besides, a comprehensive survey with the FB value chain in the countries has been conducted, which will be followed with a technical assistance to a number of companies to support them in their efforts to reduce plastic packaging and transition towards a circular economy of plastics. Finally, concerning public policy, SCP/RAC has drafted guidelines to reduce single-use plastics through public procurement. A pilot project with Montenegrin administration aims at streamlining these guidelines in their procurement as well as upgrading their in-house plastic waste management.

These activities are supported by the Italian Ministry of Environment and Land and Sea Protection through the Cooperation Agreement with UNEP/MAP, as well as by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), through the Austrian DRIVE Programme Account, in line with the objectives of the Union for the Mediterranean labeled project MedRESCP.

Download the policy brief in English here. Find it also in Albanian  and  Bosnian/ Montenegrin.

More information: pfernandez@scprac.org

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