Lithuania recycles three times less plastic than the EU average, while the Economy and Innovation Ministry promises financial incentives to address the problem.
There are few companies in Lithuania that are able to recycle difficult-to-recycle plastic products, says Danas Poderis, CEO of Plasta.
According to him, multi-layered plastic bags that are made of different materials are particularly difficult to recycle. Even the biodegradable bags are not as environmentally friendly as they sound.
“The advertising message for this is quite popular – that this is a biodegradable bag. However, microplastic residues still remain. In our opinion, it is perhaps better to collect the plastic waste more carefully and reuse it instead of spreading that microplastic residue,” Poderis says.
Lithuania is at least three times behind the EU average when it comes to recycling plastic and using it to produce new products, according to the Economy and Innovation Ministry.
Technology needs to be developed to create efficient recycling methods, says Economy and Innovation Minister Aušrinė Armonaitė, so around 8 million euros in support were earmarked for medium and small companies.
“This is to help them, to subsidise them so that they bring waste back into the production process as raw materials,” Armonaitė explains.
However, Virginijus Sinkevičius, the EU Commissioner for the Environment, Oceans, and Fisheries, says Lithuania is lacking in the circular economy strategy and recycling targets.
“If you look at the circularity of the economy, Lithuania is well behind the EU average. [...] The target of recycling 65 percent of municipal waste generated by 2035 seems unattainable in Lithuania today,” he notes.
According to data from the Economy and Innovation Ministry, only around 4 percent of waste is recycled and reused in Lithuania today.
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