A Flawed Directive
Article 5 of the EU Single Use Plastics Directive 2019/904 which entered into force on 3rd July 2021 is the most amateurish piece of legislation I have ever seen in more than 20 years practising as a lawyer. It damages the credibility of the European Parliament and the EU legislative process.
Art. 5 prohibits the placing on the market of products made from “oxo-degradable” plastic. By Art. 3(6) ‘placing on the market’ means the first making available of a product on the market of a Member State. It does not therefore apply to exporters from the EU, nor to users who use or traders who trade the product in the EU after it has been first made available on the EU market. Nor does it apply to the additives or masterbatches used to make these plastics. The Directive has no legal force at all anywhere in the world outside the EU.
Symphony Environmental Technologies plc (LON:SYM) is a world leader in the development of additives to make ordinary plastic biodegradable and protective technologies to enhance plastic products.