Brussels, 26 February 2026
The recent LIFE platform meeting on plastic waste prevention and reuse systems brought LIFE projects, industry experts and policy makers together in an effort to tackle Europe’s growing plastic problem.
Hosted by LIFE-IP C-MARTLIFE, the LIFE Platform meeting on plastic waste prevention and reuse systems attracted around 65 participants including representatives from 18 LIFE and 3 other EU-funded projects. As reported last year, less than 30% of the 32.3 million tonnes of plastic waste generated each year in Europe is recycled. With 95% of plastic packaging value lost after just a single use, the meeting focused not only on dealing with plastic waste, but preventing it in the first place.
As well as EU policy makers, participants included representatives from LIFE, Horizon 2020 and Horizon Europe projects; extended producer responsibility (EPR) organisations; the Association of Cities and Regions for Sustainable Resource Management (ACR+); circular cities; private companies and civil society.
The 3-day meeting included presentations on current challenges, success stories and ways to prevent and reuse plastic waste at scale. Ambitious projects included host LIFE-IP C-MARTLIFE which aims to cut household waste in Flanders by 15% by 2027 and increase closed loop plastic recycling by 80% in food packaging, textiles and construction and demolition waste as part of the Flemish Plastics Action Plan and Green Deal.
‘This event provided a perfect setup for the exchange on the key elements and best practices that will drive European economy towards a sustainable and efficient plastics management,’ noted Aneta Willems, Head of Sector in CINEA.
Other LIFE projects presenting at the meeting included PlastLIFE and LIFE CIRCWASTE (both from Finland) and LIFE Waste to Resources from Latvia. NGOs which benefit from LIFE funding — such as the European Environmental Bureau (EEB) and Health Care Without Harm (HCWH-Europe) — also presented their work on plastics prevention and reuse. In addition, the programme featured several sessions on effective communication and networking, CINEA’s César Seoánez highlighted the best examples from previous projects to promote the successes of the LIFE programme.
Among the meeting highlights were speed-dating and role-playing sessions to encourage networking and effective collaboration, and a visit to the Reusable Catering Materials Conference in Mechelen organised by the Flanders Public Waste Agency (OVAM) which provided a deep dive into practical, scalable solutions.
‘It was absolutely mind blowing to see the progress in prevention and reuse across EU projects, policy and industry,’ enthused Els Herremans, LIFE-IP C-MARTLIFE project coordinator. ‘Now is the time to collaborate and build on all the experience gained so far to give R-strategies — refuse, rethink, reduce, reuse, repair, refurbish, remanufacture, repurpose, recycle and recover — the chance to mature, thrive and become mainstream. Every step counts!’
The LIFE platform meeting on plastic waste prevention and reuse supports the EU Directives on waste and single use plastics, the newly published EU regulations on packaging and packaging waste, waste shipments and eco-design for sustainable products as well as the EU Circular Economy Action Plan and the European Green Deal
More information on the platform meeting:
- To access the presentations click here
- To download preliminary selected conclusions click A list of participating LIFE and other EU-funded projects can be found here.
Source – EU Commission