Political representatives, companies in the sector and journalists have met at the event Disinformation, regulation and competitiveness: the challenge of the plastics industry, organized by ANAIP – the Spanish Association of Plastics Industries, which represents the transformation of plastic products -, to reflect on the main regulatory, economic and reputational challenges facing the industry in Spain and Europe.
José Ángel Alonso, president of the Senate’s Ecological Transition Commission, opened the day. In his speech he pointed out the importance of promoting spaces for dialogue between institutions, industry and society to address the challenges posed by the transition towards more sustainable production models. “The plastic debate, he stressed, cannot be approached through simplifications. Plastic, at least for me, is not the problem; the challenge is in how we design it, how we use it and if we are able to correctly manage the end of its useful life. And this is where regulation has to play a key role with frameworks that are predictable, proportionate and based on evidence.”
Alonso also highlighted that the factor of social perception cannot be ignored. “The public debate about plastics is not always based on complete or rigorous information, which influences both public opinion and our regulatory decisions.”
After this inaugural intervention, Luis Rodrigo, president of ANAIP, took the floor and emphasized the need for a simple and harmonized regulation that enhances competitiveness and does not expel production to other regions of the world: “We cannot build regulation in Europe and Spain on wrong premises,” he stated. “The question is who is going to lead production and under what conditions. The real challenge is for Europe to be able to lead this process and not lose that role on the global stage.”
The day consisted of two debate tables focused on key issues for the future of the sector: the balance between sustainability, regulation and industrial competitiveness, and the impact of misinformation on the public narrative around plastics.
Sustainability, regulation and competitiveness
The first table of the day, titled Plastics, sustainability and regulation: a possible triangle, brought together senators from the Popular Group, the Socialist Group, the Plural Group (Junts per Catalunya) and the Basque Group and representatives of companies in the plastics transformation sector to analyze the challenges posed by regulation in a key sector for the economy and the transition towards a more circular economy.
During the debate, participants warned of the progressive loss of competitiveness that the sector has been experiencing in recent years, reflected in the increase in imports from other countries and the reduction in employment. This trend limits the capacity for investment in innovation and new technologies, and conditions the development of sustainable solutions, affecting both economic growth and the sector’s contribution to environmental objectives.
The conversation revolved around the need to promote the local industry and its competitiveness, avoiding regulations such as the tax on non-reusable plastic packaging, unique in Europe and which leaves the plastics processing industry out of the game compared to third countries, and reducing energy costs: “From the Popular Party, we propose the elimination of the tax, since it reduces the competitiveness of the sector. Our companies cannot go out to fight and compete, which is what they want, with companies from other countries,” said Mar Cotelo, the spokesperson. of the Popular Party. Likewise, he also defended the acceleration of permits and the reduction of procedures “because when we are faster and more agile we can compete on equal terms.”
The issue of bureaucratic agility brought the other participants at the table into agreement: José Francisco Hila, spokesperson for the Socialist Group in the Senate’s Ecological Transition Commission; Igotz López, spokesperson for the Basque Group; Teresa Pallarès, spokesperson for the Plural Group (Junts) in the Senate Industry Commission, Pedro Melgarejo, general director of Eversia and Natalia Campos, CEO of Enplast.
“The plastics industry has very important future challenges due to sustainability, because it has to tend towards strategic autonomy and to invest in R&D&I, said Teresa Pallarès. “Legislation has to accompany this process. And accompanying means listening to the sector, which is the one who knows how the industry works.”
“Adapting to changes is difficult, I know it is an effort,” said José Francisco Hila, “and we all, because we are all Europe, have to demand that the European Union advance in demanding from European companies and also from those outside Europe the same as we demand from companies in Europe.” From the Basque Group, Igotz López concluded: “Increasing imports and reducing local production is a shot in the foot of Europe.”
Participants analyzed how the industry is working to adapt to the new regulatory demands linked to the circular economy, highlighting the sector’s efforts to combine environmental ambition with competitiveness, legal certainty, technological neutrality and realistic adaptation times.
“Regulation must be based on scientific rigor, because today plastic products are being replaced by alternatives that are less sustainable, just because they have a better image,” said Natalia Campos, CEO of Enplast. The other industry representative at the table, Pedro Melgarejo, director of Eversia, supported his words: “The industry does not ask for less ambition, it asks for more coherence. We need three things: intelligent and stable regulation based on data; equal conditions, so that competing in Europe is not a disadvantage; and support for investment.”
Misinformation and public narrative about plastic
The second panel of the day, titled Plastic and fake news, brought together specialized journalists, scientific communicators and representatives of companies in the sector to analyze the impact of misinformation and the construction of the public narrative around plastics.
During the debate, participants reflected on the imbalance that can sometimes exist in the public narrative about this material, in which the negative impacts receive greater attention than its positive applications. In this sense, Pedro Pablo García May, head of the Environment and Science section of Agencia EFE, highlighted the importance of conveying more positive information and reinforcing the sector’s presence in the media to improve public knowledge about its applications: “information only has an impact if it reaches citizens.”
Along the same lines, Alexandra Muñoz, director of the magazine Plásticas Modernos, pointed out that in society there is a “very negative” perception of plastic and appealed to the need to reverse it through a greater volume of positive information, highlighting its applications in sectors such as health or energy, as well as its contribution to reducing emissions, the fight against climate change and the reduction of food waste. “True and rigorous scientific communication is a key tool to combat misinformation and fake news.”
García May pointed out the need to move towards greater coordination in the sector and to strengthen dissemination, especially among younger audiences. “A unified voice is needed to serve as a source of authority. We should opt for strategic dissemination on social networks aimed especially at younger people who are looking for references because the educational level is not what it should be.”
“From the sector we have to communicate with rigor and with a scientific basis,” defended Dolores Herrán, director of business development and marketing at Molecor. “And we must rely on third-party certifications, environmental product declarations or industry initiatives.”
In this context, the conversation highlighted the importance of improving communication about the role that plastics play in numerous productive sectors, as well as making visible the initiatives that companies are developing to move towards more sustainable and circular models. “Our sector has evolved much more than is often perceived and now the challenge is for that reality to be better known,” said Ignacio Echávarri, commercial director of the films and flexible packaging division of the Armando Álvarez Group.
They also reflected on the impact that negative social perception can have on those who work in the industry and on the need to strengthen dialogue between the sector, the media and society to build a more balanced public conversation based on rigorous information. “The plastic recycling sector does not need defenders, it needs visibility,” declared Beatriz Castillo, assistant to the waste management of Veolia Spain. “Visibility on the people who innovate every day, on the plants that certify their processes, on the alliances that demonstrate that the circular economy is not an abstract concept, but a reality.”
The day was closed by the general director of ANAIP, Isabel Goyena, who vindicated the role of the industry in the sustainable transition: “In the transformation of plastics we are a committed and circular industry, if manufacturing is transferred to other countries, the industry in Spain will lose and the global environment will lose.”
Goyena defended the need for a balanced regulatory framework that allows environmental objectives to be met without hindering competitiveness: “Regulatory simplification is not a privilege, it is a condition for sustainability to be viable.” Likewise, he warned about the impact of the public narrative on decision-making: “Incomplete stories have legislative consequences,” and warned that “there can be no European strategic autonomy if we let production go abroad.”