BRUSSELS — The European Commission has unveiled a new plan to end the dominance of planet-heating fossil fuels in Europe’s economy — and replace them with trees. The so-called Bioeconomy Strategy, released Thursday, aims to replace fossil fuels in products like plastics, building materials, chemicals and fibers with organic materials that regrow, such as trees and crops. “The bioeconomy holds enormous opportunities for our society, economy and industry, for our farmers and foresters and small businesses and for our ecosystem,” EU environment chief Jessika Roswall said on Thursday, in front of a staged backdrop of bio-based products, including a bathtub made of wood composite and clothing from the H&M “Conscious” range. At the center of the strategy is carbon, the fundamental building block of a wide range of manufactured products, not just energy. Almost all plastic, for example, is made from carbon, and currently most of that carbon comes from oil and natural gas. But fossil fuels have two major drawbacks: they pollute the atmosphere with planet-warming CO2, and they are mostly imported from outside the EU, compromising the bloc’s strategic autonomy. The bioeconomy strategy aims to address both drawbacks by using locally produced or recycled carbon-rich biomass rather than imported fossil fuels. It proposes doing this by setting targets in relevant legislation, such as the EU’s packaging waste laws, helping bioeconomy startups access finance, harmonizing the regulatory regime and encouraging new biomass supply. The 23-page strategy is light on legislative or funding promises, mostly piggybacking on existing laws and funds. Still, it was hailed by industries that stand to gain from a bigger market for biological materials. “The forest industry welcomes the Commission’s growth-oriented approach for bioeconomy,” said Viveka Beckeman, director general of the Swedish Forest Industries Federation, stressing the need to “boost the use of biomass as a strategic resource that benefits not only green transition and our joint climate goals but the overall economic security.” HOW RENEWABLE IS IT? But environmentalists worry Brussels may be getting too chainsaw-happy. Trees don’t grow back at the drop of a hat and pressure on natural ecosystems is already unsustainably high. Scientific reports show that the amount of carbon stored in the EU’s forests and soils is decreasing, the bloc’s natural habitats are in poor condition and biodiversity is being lost at unprecedented rates. Protecting the bloc’s forests has also fallen out of fashion among EU lawmakers. The EU’s landmark anti-deforestation law is currently facing a second, year-long delay after a vote in the European Parliament this week. In October, the Parliament also voted to scrap a law to monitor the health of Europe’s forests to reduce paperwork. Environmentalists warn the bloc may simply not have enough biomass to meet the increasing demand. “Instead of setting a strategy that confronts Europe’s excessive demand for resources, the Commission clings to the illusion that we can simply replace our current consumption with bio-based inputs, overlooking the serious and immediate harm this will inflict on people and nature,” said Eva Bille, the European Environmental Bureau’s (EEB) circular economy head, in a statement. TOO WOOD TO BE TRUE Environmental groups want the Commission to prioritize the use of its biological resources in long-lasting products — like construction — rather than lower-value or short-lived uses, like single-use packaging or fuel. A first leak of the proposal, obtained by POLITICO, gave environmental groups hope. It celebrated new opportunities for sustainable bio-based materials while also warning that the “sources of primary biomass must be sustainable and the pressure on ecosystems must be considerably reduced” — to ensure those opportunities are taken up in the longer term. It also said the Commission would work on “disincentivising inefficient biomass combustion” and substituting it with other types of renewable energy. That rankled industry lobbies. Craig Winneker, communications director of ethanol lobby ePURE, complained that the document’s language “continues an unfortunate tradition in some quarters of the Commission of completely ignoring how sustainable biofuels are produced in Europe,” arguing that the energy is “actually a co-product along with food, feed, and biogenic CO2.” Now, those lines pledging to reduce environmental pressures and to disincentivize inefficient biomass combustion are gone. “Bioenergy continues to play a role in energy security, particularly where it uses residues, does not increase water and air pollution, and complements other renewables,” the final text reads. “This is a crucial omission, given that the EU’s unsustainable production and consumption are already massively overshooting ecological boundaries and putting people, nature and businesses at risk,” said the EEB. Delara Burkhardt, a member of the European Parliament with the center-left Socialists and Democrats, said it was “good that the strategy recognizes the need to source biomass sustainably,” but added the proposal did not address sufficiency. “Simply replacing fossil materials with bio-based ones at today’s levels of consumption risks increasing pressure on ecosystems. That shifts problems rather than solving them. We need to reduce overall resource use, not just switch inputs,” she said. Roswall declined to comment on the previous draft at Thursday’s press conference. “I think that we need to increase the resources that we have, and that is what this strategy is trying to do,” she said.

At New York Climate Week in September, opinion leaders voiced concern that high-profile events often gloss over the deep inequalities exposed by climate change, especially how poorer populations suffer disproportionately and struggle to access mitigation or adaptation resources. The message was clear: climate policies should better reflect social justice concerns, ensuring they are inclusive and do not unintentionally favor those already privileged.  We believe access to food sits at the heart of this call for inclusion, because everything starts with food: it is a fundamental human right and a foundation for health, education and opportunity. It is also a lever for climate, economic and social resilience.  > We believe access to food sits at the heart of this call for inclusion, > because everything starts with food This makes the global conversation around food systems transformation more urgent than ever. Food systems are under unprecedented strain. Without urgent, coordinated action, billions of people face heightened risks of malnutrition, displacement and social unrest.   Delivering systemic transformation requires coordinated cross-sector action, not fragmented solutions. Food systems are deeply interconnected, and isolated interventions cannot solve systemic problems. The Food and Agriculture Organization’s recent Transforming Food and Agriculture Through a Systems Approach report calls for systems thinking and collaboration across the value chain to address overlapping food, health and environmental challenges.   Now, with COP30 on the horizon, unified and equitable solutions are needed to benefit entire value chains and communities. This is where a systems approach becomes essential.  A systems approach to transforming food and agriculture  Food systems transformation must serve both people and planet. We must ensure everyone has access to safe, nutritious food while protecting human rights and supporting a just transition.   At Tetra Pak, we support food and beverage companies throughout the journey of food production, from processing raw ingredients like milk and fruit to packaging and distribution. This end-to-end perspective gives us a unique view into the interconnected challenges within the food system, and how an integrated approach can help manufacturers reduce food loss and waste, improve energy and water efficiency, and deliver food where it is needed most.   Meaningful reductions to emissions require expanding the use of renewable and carbon-free energy sources. As outlined in our Food Systems 2040 whitepaper,1 the integration of low-carbon fuels like biofuels and green hydrogen, alongside electrification supported by advanced energy storage technologies, will be critical to driving the transition in factories, farms and food production and processing facilities.   Digitalization also plays a key role. Through advanced automation and data-driven insights, solutions like Tetra Pak® PlantMaster enable food and beverage companies to run fully automated plants with a single point of control for their production, helping them improve operational efficiency, minimize production downtime and reduce their environmental footprint.  The “hidden middle”: A critical gap in food systems policy  Today, much of the focus on transforming food systems is placed on farming and on promoting healthy diets. Both are important, but they risk overlooking the many and varied processes that get food from the farmer to the end consumer. In 2015 Dr Thomas Reardon coined the term the “hidden middle” to describe this midstream segment of global agricultural value chains.2   This hidden middle includes processing, logistics, storage, packaging and handling, and it is pivotal. It accounts for approximately 22 percent of food-based emissions and between 40-60 percent of the total costs and value added in food systems.3 Yet despite its huge economic value, it receives only 2.5 to 4 percent of climate finance.4  Policymakers need to recognize the full journey from farm to fork as a lynchpin priority. Strategic enablers such as packaging that protects perishable food and extends shelf life, along with climate-resilient processing technologies, can maximize yield and minimize loss and waste across the value chain. In addition, they demonstrate how sustainability and competitiveness can go hand in hand.  Alongside this, climate and development finance must be redirected to increase investment in the hidden middle, with a particular focus on small and medium-sized enterprises, which make up most of the sector.   Collaboration in action  Investment is just the start. Change depends on collaboration between stakeholders across the value chain: farmers, food manufacturers, brands, retailers, governments, financiers and civil society.  In practice, a systems approach means joining up actors and incentives at every stage.5 The dairy sector provides a perfect example of the possibilities of connecting. We work with our customers and with development partners to establish dairy hubs in countries around the world. These hubs connect smallholder farmers with local processors, providing chilling infrastructure, veterinary support, training and reliable routes to market.6 This helps drive higher milk quality, more stable incomes and safer nutrition for local communities.  Our strategic partnership with UNIDO* is a powerful example of this collaboration in action. Together, we are scaling Dairy Hub projects in Kenya, building on the success of earlier initiatives with our customer Githunguri Dairy. UNIDO plays a key role in securing donor funding and aligning public-private efforts to expand local dairy production and improve livelihoods. This model demonstrates how collaborations can unlock changes in food systems.  COP30 and beyond  Strategic investment can strengthen local supply chains, extend social protections and open economic opportunity, particularly in vulnerable regions. Lasting progress will require a systems approach, with policymakers helping to mitigate transition costs and backing sustainable business models that build resilience across global food systems for generations to come.   As COP30 approaches, we urge policymakers to consider food systems as part of all decision-making, to prevent unintended trade-offs between climate and nutrition goals. We also recommend that COP30 negotiators ensure the Global Goal on Adaptation include priorities indicators that enable countries to collect, monitor and report data on the adoption of climate-resilient technologies and practices by food processors. This would reinforce the importance of the hidden middle and help unlock targeted adaptation finance across the food value chain.  When every actor plays their part, from policymakers to producers, and from farmers to financiers, the whole system moves forward. Only then can food systems be truly equitable, resilient and sustainable, protecting what matters most: food, people and the planet.  * UNIDO (United Nations Industrial Development Organization)  Disclaimer POLITICAL ADVERTISEMENT * The sponsor is Tetra Pak * The ultimate controlling entity is Brands2Life Ltd * The advertisement is linked to policy advocacy regarding food systems and climate policy More information here. https://www.politico.eu/7449678-2

LONDON — The U.K.’s trade deal with Donald Trump was touted as a post-Brexit win. Months later, as America’s global tariff regime starts to take shape, Brits aren’t feeling quite so lucky — and some are downright cheesed off.   Under the Economic Prosperity Deal agreed with the U.S. in May, most British goods exported to America are subject to 10 percent “reciprocal” tariffs. This is in addition to existing tariffs — known to traders as most-favored nation (MFN) rates.  By contrast, the EU struck a deal with Trump in July that would see goods from the bloc hit with an all-inclusive 15 percent tariff — except where the existing MFN rate is higher. That means many U.K. products with an MFN rate above 5 percent will now be hit by higher tariffs than competing EU products — and cheese in the firing line. “Overall, U.K. goods will get somewhat better [treatment] than European Union products,” explained Ed Gresser, director for trade and global markets at the Progressive Policy Institute and a former policy adviser to the United States Trade Representative. “This also appears to be the case for the very top U.K. exports to the U.S. cars, medicines, oil — which bring in the most money, and for wines and liquors.” The U.K.’s trade deal with Donald Trump was touted as a post-Brexit win. | EPA/FRANCIS CHUNG / / POOL “However, there will also be many specific cases in which EU goods get better treatment than British goods,” Gresser added. “These include some probably emotive and visible ones, such as cheddar and Stilton cheese, and Shetland wool sweaters.” Under the current U.S. tariff regime, British cheddar exported to the U.S. would be hit by overall tariffs of between 20 and 26 percent — depending on the packaging and processing — while the EU would get tariffs of between 15 and 16 percent. IRISH COMPETITION The discrepancy has not gone unnoticed by British cheesemakers, who fear they could now be undercut by their European rivals.  “Overall, U.K. dairy — and cheesemakers in particular — have been presented with a worse deal than their EU competitors as a result of the U.S.-U.K. agreement,” said Rod Addy, director general of the Provision Trade Federation, which represents British cheesemakers. The difference between U.K. and EU tariff rates “suggests EU exporters, particularly [in] Ireland, may benefit relative to the U.K.,” he added. “Given that cheddar accounts for roughly three quarters of all U.K. dairy exports, that is highly significant.” The U.K. exported 9,855 metric tons of cheese and curd products in 2024 worth over £75 million, data from the Britain’s Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board shows. According to the latest data available for 2025, the U.K. exported around 4,365 metric tons between January and June worth over £36 million. Coombe Castle International, a major exporter of cheese to the U.S., is among the British cheese businesses feeling the strain. Currently, the U.S. market makes up around a third of its business. But they now fear tariffs could reduce demand for their cheeses, amid increased competition from the EU. “It does look like we are now disadvantaged compared to Europe, and that’s certainly going to hurt us when it comes to cheddar and butter, where we’ve got direct competition in the EU,” said Darren Larvin, Coombe Castle International’s managing director. “Tariffs have come at the wrong time. We have a relatively high milk price, a weak dollar and prices are high with the cost of living. All of those put together mean it’s quite tough at the moment. So we could really do without having any further costs.” Larvin said that like “most people” in the industry, Coombe Castle have “had to pass all of that on to the consumer in the U.S. … We’re just not in a position to share any of that [extra cost]. We’ll see how that goes through the chain and what effect that has on demand.” Shortly after the EU’s deal with the U.S. was announced, Larvin contacted the Department for Business and Trade to ask them how they planned to protect U.K. dairy exports to the U.S.  Their response left him nonplussed. In response, an official said only that negotiations to reduce the 10 percent tariff rate were continuing, making comparisons “difficult.” GOVERNMENT ‘MORE CONCERNED WITH LAND ROVERS’ British Stilton makers have also been left disappointed by the U.K.-U.S. deal, with the cheese now facing duties of between 22 and 27 percent, depending on the type of Stilton. “Effectively, it’s another 10 percent on the cost of the product which is very unhelpful for everyone,” said Robin Skailes, managing director of the family-run Stilton maker Cropwell Bishop Creamery, which exports around £2.5 million of cheese to the U.S. each year. “I can understand why the U.S. government are doing it. But what I don’t like necessarily is how our government advertises that as a success and a deal. It’s not a deal because we’re actually worse off than they are in Europe. “What our government should have done is factored in some of the existing tariffs that are already there. … But they may not have even known that. I mean, why would they bother with Stilton? They are more concerned with Land Rovers, that was the big thing. Food is never at the top of their agenda.” It’s too early to tell whether tariffs will reduce demand for British cheese in the U.S. | Til Buergy/EPA As a result of the additional tariffs, Skailes said the firm would take a “massive hit” to their margins and has already had to pass on some of the extra cost to the consumer. “We can share some of the pain, but there’s not a huge amount of margin in food. We’re not selling iPhones — we don’t make trillions of dollars.” For now, it’s too early to tell whether tariffs will reduce demand for British cheese in the U.S. but Coombe Castle’s Larvin is not optimistic. “It will certainly make us less competitive — and we’re certainly less competitive compared to Europe now.”   A spokesperson for the U.K.’s Department for Business and Trade said: “The U.K.’s landmark trade deal is the result of a pragmatic approach to working with the US. We will continue to work with the US to get this deal implemented as soon as possible to give industry the security they need, protect vital jobs, and put more money in people’s pockets through the Plan for Change.”

Policymakers are overlooking a $370 billion market that will determine whether climate goals succeed or fail.  In the grand narrative of the clean energy transition, materials like lithium, rare earths and silicon dominate headlines. Yet the most strategically important materials for this transition may be hiding in plain sight, dismissed by policymakers as environmental villains rather than recognized as the enablers of human progress they truly are. The $370 billion blind spot Polyolefins — the family of materials that includes polyethylene and polypropylene — represent perhaps the greatest strategic oversight in contemporary clean industry policy Here is a reality check. Polyolefins represent a global market approaching $370 billion, growing at over 5 percent annually.1,2 They make up nearly half of all plastics consumed in Europe.3 By 2034, global production is expected to hit 371 million tons.4  Yet in the European Union’s Clean Industrial Deal — a €100 billion strategy for industrial competitiveness — polyolefins receive barely a mention.4 This represents a profound strategic miscalculation. While policymakers focus on securing access to exotic critical materials like lithium and cobalt, they overlook the fact that polyolefins are already critical materials— they simply happen to be abundant rather than scarce. In the infrastructure-intensive clean energy transition ahead, abundance is not a weakness; it is the ultimate strategic advantage. > While policymakers focus on securing access to exotic critical materials like > lithium and cobalt, they overlook the fact that polyolefins are already > critical materials. The EU’s REPowerEU plan calls for 1,236 GW of renewable capacity by 2030 — more than double today’s levels.4 Every offshore wind farm, solar array and electric grid connection depends on polyolefins. They insulate cables, protect components and form structural parts of turbines and solar panels. Every solar panel relies on polyolefin elastomers to protect its inner workings for up to 30 years, even in harsh weather.8 And every grid connection depends on polyethylene-insulated cables to carry electricity efficiently across long distances. 7 Multiply these requirements across thousands of installations, and the strategic importance of polyolefins becomes undeniable. Yet, currently, the policy framework treats these materials as afterthoughts, focusing instead on the relatively small quantities of rare elements in generators and inverters while ignoring the massive volumes of polyolefins that make the entire system possible. Beyond energy: the hidden dependencies The strategic importance of polyolefins extends far beyond energy infrastructure. As one example, modern medical systems depend fundamentally on polyolefin materials for syringes, IV bags, tubing and protective equipment. Global food security increasingly depends on polyolefin-based packaging systems that extend shelf life, reduce waste and enable distribution networks — feeding billions of people. Meanwhile, water infrastructure relies on polyethylene pipes engineered for 100-year lifespans. These applications are rarely considered alongside energy priorities — a dangerous fragmentation of strategic thinking. The waste challenge and a circular solution Let’s be clear, plastic waste is a real environmental challenge demanding urgent action. However, the solution is not abandoning these essential materials, it is building the infrastructure to capture their full value in circular systems. The fundamental error in current approaches is treating waste as a material problem rather than a systems problem. Europe currently captures only 23 percent of polyolefin waste for recycling, despite these materials representing nearly two-thirds of all post-consumer plastic waste.3 That’s not because the material can’t be recycled. The infrastructure to do so isn’t at the scale needed to collect, sort and recycle waste to meet future circular feedstock needs. Polyolefins are among the most recyclable materials we have. They can be mechanically recycled multiple times. And with chemical recycling, they can even be broken down to their molecular building blocks and rebuilt into virgin-quality material. That’s not just circularity, it’s circularity at scale. This matters because the EU’s target of 24 percent material circularity by 20305 is unlikely to be met without polyolefins. However, current frameworks treat them as obstacles rather than enablers of circularity. The economic transformation The transition represents an economic transformation, creating competitive advantages for regions implementing it effectively. A region processing 100,000 tons of polyolefin waste annually could capture €100-130 million in additional economic value while creating up to 1,000 jobs.6 > A region processing 100,000 tons of polyolefin waste annually could capture > €100-130 million in additional economic value while creating up to 1,000 jobs. At the end of the day, the clean energy transition must be affordable. Polyolefins help make that possible. They’re cheaper, lighter and longer lasting than many alternatives. Manufacturers with access to cost-effective recycled feedstocks can reduce input costs by 20-40 percent compared with virgin materials. Polyethylene pipes cost 60-70 percent less than steel alternatives while lasting twice as long.9 These aren’t marginal gains. They’re system-level efficiencies that make the difference between success and failure at scale. The strategic choice The real challenge isn’t technical, it’s institutional. Polyolefins sit at the crossroads of materials, environmental and industrial policy, yet these areas are treated as separate domains. There’s also a geopolitical angle. Unlike lithium or rare earths, polyolefins can be produced from diverse feedstocks — natural gas, biomass and even captured CO2 — enabling domestic production and supply chain resilience. This flexibility is a major asset, but current policies largely overlook it. > The path forward requires recognizing polyolefins as strategic assets rather > than environmental problems. The path forward requires recognizing polyolefins as strategic assets rather than environmental problems. This means including them in critical materials assessments — not because they are scarce, but because they are essential. It means coordinating research and development efforts rather than leaving them to fragmented market forces. Most importantly, it means recognizing that the clean energy transition will succeed or fail based on our ability to build infrastructure at unprecedented scale and speed. And that infrastructure will be built primarily from materials that combine performance, abundance, sustainability and cost-effectiveness in ways only polyolefins can provide. The choice facing policymakers is clear: continue treating polyolefins as problems to be managed or recognize them as strategic assets enabling the clean energy future. The regions that understand this integration first will shape the global economy for decades to come. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1. Grand View Research. (2024). Polyolefin Market Size, Share, Growth | Industry Report, 2030. Retrieved from https://www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/polyolefin-market 2. Fortune Business Insights. (2024). Polyolefin Market Size, Share & Growth | Global Report [2032]. Retrieved from https://www.fortunebusinessinsights.com/polyolefin-market-102373 3. Plastics Europe. (2025). Polyolefins. Retrieved from https://plasticseurope.org/plastics-explained/a-large-family/polyolefins-2/ 4. European Commission. (2025). Clean Industrial Deal. Retrieved from https://commission.europa.eu/topics/eu-competitiveness/clean-industrial-deal_en 5. European Commission. (2022). Circular economy action plan. Retrieved from https://environment.ec.europa.eu/strategy/circular-economy-action-plan_en 6. Watkins, E., & Schweitzer, J.P. (2018). Moving towards a circular economy for plastics in the EU by 2030. Institute for European Environmental Policy. Retrieved from https://ieep.eu/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/Think-2030-A-circular-economy-for-plastics-by-2030-1. 7. Institute of Sustainable Studies (2025). EU Circular Economy Act aims to double circularity rate by 2030 EU Circular Economy Act – Institute of Sustainability Studies 8. López-Escalante, M.C., et al. (2016). Polyolefin as PID-resistant encapsulant material in PV modules. Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells, 144, 691-699. Retrieved from https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0927024815005206 9. PE100+ Association. (2014). Polyolefin Sewer Pipes – 100 Year Lifetime Expectancy. Retrieved from https://www.pe100plus.com/PPCA/Polyolefin-Sewer-Pipes-100-Year-Lifetime-Expectancy-p1430.html --------------------------------------------------------------------------------

NAPLES, Italy — Via dei Tribunali is one of Naples’ busiest arteries, filled with restaurants and shops. Down one of its side alleys stands a bronze statue of Pulcinella, the trickster who has long symbolized the city. In high season, the queue to rub his nose can stretch half a kilometer as tourists chase an ancient Neapolitan good-luck ritual. But locals know that tradition is fake. The statue was erected only in the 2010s, and was largely ignored by Neapolitans. Only in recent years influencers discovered it, fabricated a folkloric backstory, and suddenly no tourist felt their trip to Naples was complete without it. The result is a paradoxical “local” tradition without any locals — and a good example of what overtourism is doing to Italian cities. “The historic center of Naples is dead,” said sociologist and activist Francesco Calicchia, who lives and works in the working-class Sanità neighborhood. “Those streets aren’t neighborhoods anymore. There are no Neapolitans left, no real life left. They’ve become playgrounds, open-air shopping malls.” Sipping a coffee on Via Foria, just outside the tourist grid, he noticed a shirtless man ambling past, dragging a suitcase down the middle of the street. “The problem,” Calicchia said, eying the man cutting across the street, “is that this kind of tourism isn’t being managed or controlled.” Many cities across Italy are wrestling with the same pressures. But Naples — with its tangled history and outspoken residents — offers a particularly vivid case study. Activists, workers, experts and local politicians all argue that overtourism is hollowing out the fabric of the city — and while it’s often touted as a source of money and jobs, they say it mostly enriches the wealthy instead. HOUSING SCARCITY One of the main ways tourism is reshaping Naples is through its impact on housing. “Short-term rentals have grown exponentially in Naples, just like in other Italian cities,” said Chiara Capretti, a municipal councilor and member of Resta Abitante — an association defending the right to housing — as she hunted for a free table in the tourist-clogged San Domenico Square. In some working-class districts, there’s one B&B for every three homes. “If this were happening in wealthier neighborhoods, locals might absorb higher rents and rising costs,” said Ivan Avella, a local urban planning graduate. “But in poorer districts, the impact is much harsher. The area stays poor — but now it’s also touristy.” The result is that residents are being displaced. “There’s been a noticeable increase in evictions,” Capretti said. Giuseppe Giglio, a humanitarian worker who also moonlights as a tour guide in Naples, is one of many pushed out by the B&B boom. The statue of Pulcinella was erected only in the 2010s, and was largely ignored by Neapolitans. | Lorenzo Di Cola/NurPhoto via Getty Images In 2023, his landlord told him he was converting the apartment into a business project backed by state funds to spur investment in southern Italy. For the landlord it seemed easier — and more profitable — to evict Giglio and turn the apartment into a short-term rental. Before his notice period was even up, Giglio woke one morning to find workers already tearing out gas pipes in the next room. “I lost everything and ended up crashing with friends, my cat in tow, until I could move into another place. For a while, I was literally on the street,” he recounted over the phone before his work shift. But what shocked him most was how quickly the whole building was transformed. “That building is still home to families who’ve lived there for generations … but many of them don’t have the tools — financial or cultural — to fight situations like this,” he said. “Four floors, two apartments per floor, all the apartments on my side — first, second, and fourth floors — have been converted into short-term rentals, bed and breakfasts, or student housing.” “So gradually, one by one, long-term residents have been pushed out to make room for tourists and temporary renters.” “I once heard about an elderly Neapolitan woman who lived in the city center and couldn’t get home because the streets were too crowded,” said Gaia Portolano, who works at a tourist infopoint, explaining what it’s like to coexist with overtourism. “A tourist overheard her complaining and told her that she was the one living in the wrong place.” The pressure on Naples’ housing is so intense that local urban planning discussions now revolve around investing in the eastern part of the city, Capretti said, which is full of neglected and abandoned areas. The idea is to “recover lost livability in the historic center by building it in the eastern zone” — supposedly by moving residents out of the city center to make room for tourists. Supporters of the tourism boom argue that platforms like Airbnb can benefit small landlords. However, in 2023 Avella noted that almost two-thirds of Airbnb hosts owned more than one property, and the top five hosts controlled roughly 500 listings. He suggested that means the largest landlords are companies, not people. And even when owners are individuals, they are often from wealthier cities like Rome or Milan, he added. “There’s no redistribution of money locally,” Calicchia said, adding that Naples is being used as a postcard for Italy while the profits flow north or abroad. One striking example, he added, is an ancient residential building in the central square of Rione Sanità. The Turin-based coffee giant Lavazza painted a mural on the façade, blending Neapolitan slang with a street art style popularized in town by football fan murals — and even added a QR code linking to the company’s website. “This is what Naples has become,” he says. “An open-air supermarket for northern Italian companies that come here and take pieces of our neighborhoods.” Some Italian cities and regions have tried to regulate the Airbnb explosion, but local officials say their hands are tied without national backing. | Jeffrey Greenberg/Universal Images Group via Getty Images Some Italian cities and regions have tried to regulate the Airbnb explosion, but local officials say their hands are tied without national backing. In fact, critics argue the government of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has only made matters worse. Capretti, who is part of the left-wing Power to the People opposition party, said new laws make it easier to renovate apartments and change their intended use. She pointed to a 2024 law, promoted by current Infrastructure Minister Matteo Salvini, which introduced measures to simplify construction and urban planning. Meloni’s government also challenged a law in Italy’s northern Tuscany region that allowed municipal administrations, in agreement with the region, to identify zones where they could set rules and limits on short-term rentals. The central government argued it restricted business freedom and competition. “There’s still no national law on short-term rentals, and that’s obviously a problem for local governments,” Capretti said, adding that municipalities and regions can only do so much. “The real decisions can only be made at the national level.” “We need a national law to set some boundaries,” confirmed Gennaro Acampora, the leader of the opposition Democratic Party in Naples’ City Council. He suggested urban plans to set a maximum percentage of short-term rentals to prevent the displacement of residents. INAUTHENTIC CITIES Visitors are drawn to Naples and to Italy for what they see as authenticity — vibrant street life, colorful murals, food culture and the warmth of local people. But as residents are priced out, that very authenticity is eroding. Critics increasingly describe the city’s historic center as an “open-air fry shop,” overrun by stalls selling near-identical snacks. International chains keep multiplying, leaving locals asking how many pizzerias can realistically fit on a single street. “On Via Toledo, in 46 meters, there was only one food-related business in 2015. By 2023, there were already five — one every 9 meters,” said Avella, referring to one of Naples’ busiest thoroughfares. This proliferation of eateries has displaced important local landmarks. The Pironti bookstore in Dante Square, where generations of students bought their schoolbooks, has been replaced by a tavern. City authorities tried to curb the restaurant boom by allowing new businesses only in certain cases, such as if they offered something beyond food. The unintended result, explained Capretti, is that “now every tavern calls itself a book-osteria.” The boom in food tourism has also amplified long-running waste management challenges. Disposable packaging from takeout businesses piles up in the streets, much of it left by visitors. “In many neighborhoods, it’s now impossible to walk without being hit by the constant smell of frying,” Capretti complained. The transformation is also tearing at the social fabric. The city’s homeless population, once a visible part of central Naples, has been pushed into other neighborhoods. “What happens if I install uncomfortable benches — or remove them altogether? Suddenly, staying isn’t an option. A tourist won’t notice, because they rarely stop,” but residents will, said Adolfo Baratta, an architecture professor at Rome’s Roma Tre University. “In city centers, public restrooms have all but disappeared, and it’s a real problem,” added Baratta. “Someone who needs a toilet is forced to go into a café and consume, or else relieve themselves in the street. You’re being pushed into private consumption because a public service is no longer offered.” This logic, he said, disproportionately affects the poor. “Homeless people are expelled, also because their presence is deemed unpleasant for tourists. They’re pushed out of historic centers and given no conditions to remain. If you can’t even lie on a bench, you’re forced to move. But has the problem been solved? No — it’s just been shifted elsewhere.” PRAYING FOR CHANGE Even religious practices are changing. Churches that once served as gathering places for residents are now tourist attractions, pushing worship out of the historic center. “Of course, places of worship located in areas that have become economically unsustainable lose their community of faithful. And it’s not just happening in Naples,” said Domenico Bilotti, a professor of canon law at Magna Graecia University of Catanzaro. If younger generations are forced to live ever farther from their workplaces because city centers are economically inaccessible, he said, churches and religious associations will take on new roles. “They become welfare providers.” Culture is also tailored for tourists and not locals, often becoming too expensive. “Many things that were free are now paid,” confirmed Marina Minniti, an activist with Mi Riconosci, a group defending cultural workers’ rights. Ironically, tourism often erases the very qualities that attracted visitors in the first place. Avella said that in his research, speaking directly with tourists, he has started to notice some complaints that there are simply too many food businesses and that the city’s commercial life feels increasingly lopsided. “Tourism isn’t going to stay this strong forever,” Calicchia warned. “Without political planning and a plan B, letting it continue unchecked carries serious risks.” He sipped his coffee and told the story of a woman from his neighborhood who once worked as a cleaner. “The lady got a couple of B&Bs to host, and her son opened a bar and also took on a couple of B&Bs. So, you see, tourism can be a way to escape poverty quickly,” he said. “But the problem is there’s no plan B when tourism dries up, like it is doing now,” he added, referring to the recent flattening of visitor numbers in Naples. “She had to close her B&Bs because fewer tourists are coming now. She had to take a job in a restaurant, but that’s only until it closes too, because that too, like everything else, depends on tourism.”

ATHENS — The European Union is investigating potential misuse of at least €11.9 million of EU funds in a recycling project in Greece, as the country’s notorious struggle to meet Brussels’ waste management standards shows no sign of ending. The probe follows EU-commissioned reports by Greek auditors that found irregularities with how much the project cost and how it’s run.   One of the reports, seen by POLITICO, found several problems with the way the recycling centers operate, including a total lack of controls over what happens to the waste that is collected. The EU investigation, led by the European Public Prosecutor’s Office, comes on the back of Greece’s long-standing issues with implementing EU laws on waste management, which have resulted in massive fines imposed on the Mediterranean country. The project in question is a set of “recycling units” or kiosks built by Greek recycling company TEXAN and spread out across the Attica, Peloponnese and Crete regions. Locals can get money back for recycling plastic, metal and glass items in these kiosks that aren’t packaging. “There is no information from [Attica waste management body] EDSNA on what happens to the waste after their collection, except for a report on its placement in a TEXAN storage facility for the year 2023,” the report seen by POLITICO reads, adding that not all storage units have been installed. EPPO’s investigation is based on the findings of the audit committee’s reports, among other documents, according to an official familiar with the case. The €220 million project was co-financed by the EU via a European Operational Program.   In 2023, the financial audit committee had slapped a €2.9 million refund penalty on EDSNA after finding “serious irregularities” with the purchasing contract awarded to TEXAN. The company had won the tender for the project despite suggesting that the kiosks would be around five times more expensive than what it could cost based on market prices.  Greece is also on track to fail on its obligation to recycle 55 percent of municipal waste and 65 percent of packaging waste this year. | Orestis Panagiotou/EPA “It cannot be confirmed whether EDSNA investigated what a reasonable budget for the recycling centers would be, given that the market research it conducted and referred to, did not concern at least two independent [companies], but two [companies] with a common interest and an exclusive relationship, which then, of course, submitted the only bid in the tender in question and won the contract,” a separate report said, according to local media reports at the time.  Following the second audit, completed in July and first revealed by Greece’s newspaper Kathimerini, a second €3 million fine was imposed, half the amount of EU funds used for the recycling centers in the three regions, as the report notes.  BAD STUDENTS  Greece’s poor track record with recycling and respecting EU laws on waste is notorious.   According to 2022 data from the European statistical office Eurostat, the municipal waste recycling rate in Greece hovered around 17 percent, compared to the EU average of 49 percent.  Greece is also on track to fail on its obligation to recycle 55 percent of municipal waste and 65 percent of packaging waste this year, the European Commission found in its 2025 environmental implementation review. The country had already “missed the 2020 target to recycle 50 percent of its municipal waste by a great margin” the review says.   In the EU, Greece is one of five members paying fines for not complying with environmental policies. To date, the country has sent about €230 million to Brussels to make up for these violations, according to the review.   Out of the 19 open infringement cases against Greece on environmental matters, six are related to waste management, from illegal landfilling to not properly applying laws on packaging waste. Local NGOs, meanwhile, have repeatedly warned of systemic disorders in the sector.  

Brussels bureaucrats aren’t known for being easygoing on single market rules — and it turns out even world-leading green laws won’t win you an exception. The European Commission announced last Thursday it will take France to court for overzealous waste-sorting regulations that it says violate the free movement of goods principle. The EU executive made the decision after having warned Paris repeatedly that its mandatory waste-sorting labels are not compatible with the EU single market. Under French law, producers of goods like packaging, textiles, phones or even gardening equipment must include a sorting label — known in France as the “Triman” logo or “Info-tri” label — on their products, so citizens can be informed about how to dispose of them properly. Introduced in 2022, the labels use symbols to explain which parts of the products go in which bin. Paris and Brussels have been fighting over them ever since. Brussels wants to harmonize labelling rules at the EU level. The bloc introduced new packaging rules last year that will require all packaging placed on the EU market to have a “harmonised label containing information on its material composition in order to facilitate consumer sorting.” That requirement doesn’t take effect until August 2028, however. The Commission argues that until the EU-wide rules are implemented, enforcing the use of a specific label at the national level is “disproportionate” and represents “an obstacle to the free movement of goods,” it said in a press statement. Companies have complained for years that differing national requirements regarding waste labels across EU member countries make it harder and more expensive for them to sell goods in the bloc’s market, as they are forced to adapt their packaging to meet national rules. “Over the years, [the Triman logo] has inflicted a disproportionate impact on European companies, incurring costs to modify the artwork on their packaging for the French market,” said Francesca Stevens, secretary general at packaging lobby Europen, adding that businesses have had “to bear extra costs of significant scale to comply with this unilateral label requirement.”  A spokesperson from the French environment ministry said the country would “adapt our law to the packaging regulation to comply with European expectations in 2028. Until then, we wish to keep the Triman [logo]. The dispute will cease with the implementation of the regulation.” Brussels wants to harmonize labelling rules at the EU level. | Antonio Bat/EPA Brussels sent two warnings to France, in February 2023 and November 2024, demanding that the government fix the issue. The country will now have to defend itself at the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU). France has a history of passing more ambitious circular economy laws at home that go beyond what the EU requires of people and businesses, a practice known as “gold-plating.”

Arms aloft, the president of the United Nations Environment Assembly triumphantly told delegates in Kenya: “Plastic pollution has grown into an epidemic. With today’s resolution, we are officially on track for a cure” in November 2023. Three years on, governments have not yet agreed on a global instrument to combat plastic waste, but the ambition and willingness remain. Success, however, is closely linked to systems change, which is urgently needed if we are to change the current trajectory.  Plastic remains closely intertwined with modern life. It keeps medicines and food safe and affordable, and it makes a vital contribution to the way we live, consume, work and travel. With it comes the issue of plastic waste. Yet, plastic waste is a solvable problem despite the scale and diversity of the challenge.   A future international legally binding instrument on plastic pollution could provide a coherent policy framework for industry, governments, civil society and financial institutions to carry out coordinated action. But that’s just the start. The key to success will be implementation of the instrument — deploying the solutions and funding the systems change needed to vastly improve waste management and increase recycling rates to drive a circular economy for plastics.  Prioritizing collaboration over compulsion  To achieve lasting change, the instrument must provide mechanisms to unlock financial support for waste management infrastructure and innovation. With an estimated $2.1 trillion needed by 2040 to eliminate plastic leakage into the environment, it is imperative that we look for innovative ways to mobilize capital from a diverse range of sources. Every dollar of capital committed to the right project can potentially catalyze ten times that amount from larger institutions.   > Every dollar of capital committed to the right project can potentially > catalyze ten times that amount from larger institutions. The Alliance to End Plastic Waste has direct experience of this. To provide just one example, we made a critical loan to a women-led social enterprise in Indonesia that allowed it to navigate equity requirements and to secure a $44.9 million Asian Development Bank loan to develop a bottle-to-bottle recycling plant in Java.  Our work on the ground has demonstrated the significant potential of coordinated action and a systems-based approach. For example, by providing our technical expertise and financial support to the ASASE Foundation — a Ghana-based social enterprise that supports women entrepreneurs in managing plastic waste collection and recycling businesses — the foundation successfully developed a functional system and became a recipient of the World Bank’s Plastic Waste Reduction-Linked Bond. The bond provides investors with a financial return linked to plastic and carbon credits expected to be generated, allowing the ASASE Foundation to benefit from financing that significantly exceeds our initial investment.  In developed countries, where we are more focused on addressing plastic waste through technology, a coordinated approach has also been pivotal to progress. HolyGrail 2.0, a digital watermarking technology that we support, is a good example of this. The imperceptible codes contained in the watermarks and printed on plastic packaging carry information about the material and can be detected by high resolution cameras in sorting facilities to increase sorting accuracy and improve the quality of material bound for recycling. The project has involved significant collaboration across the plastics value chain, involving technology providers, sorting facilities, brands and governments, enabling the technology to be successfully proven in a series of industrial trials in Europe.    Reliable and consistent definitions and reporting metrics, both heavily discussed at the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee sessions, are fundamental to the future instrument’s long-term and lasting impact. These will not only establish how much plastic is used, its purpose, the levels of waste and where it ends up, but also allow businesses and governments to develop the most impactful responses and introduce accountability.    > Reliable and consistent definitions and reporting metrics […] are fundamental > to the future instrument’s long-term and lasting impact. They will also guard against a cumbersome ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach that underestimates the complexity of the plastic waste challenge and puts progress at risk. Indeed, the flexibility of countries to design action plans that acknowledge and address specific national circumstances is vital, as is the need for the treaty to encourage greater collaboration between nations and actors across the entire plastics ecosystem.  Resetting the dial  As an organization that is focused on developing and implementing solutions, we have learnt a lot over the past five years. As the world looks for how to scale practical solutions to the challenges of plastic waste, the alliance is concentrating on larger-scale efforts in the Global South where underdeveloped waste management infrastructure represents an outsized opportunity for plastic waste reduction. These programs, aligned with countries’ national priorities, will begin in India, Indonesia and South Africa — each receiving at least $100 million in collective financing. The scale of these efforts and their ability to provide a practical model that other nations can replicate will help to move countries up the recycling maturity curve.  In parallel, we will be carrying out significant efforts to tackle systemic plastic waste issues in the Global North with a focus on film and flexible plastics. Commonly used in packaging and consumer goods, flexible packaging is notoriously difficult to recycle. This is a problem for every consumer packaging goods company, retailer and municipality. The key to success will be bringing together all the different stakeholders of this complex ecosystem around a cohesive strategy.  A time for action  A fully circular economy for plastics can only be achieved through systems change. We are optimistic that the delegates at the upcoming negotiations in Geneva will create a framework to catalyze collaborative progress, but this is just one piece of the puzzle. What countries really need is the ability to implement the right solutions and infrastructure, which is only possible with cooperation across the entire plastics ecosystem.   > What countries really need is the ability to implement the right solutions and > infrastructure, which is only possible with cooperation across the entire > plastics ecosystem. More details of the Alliance’s work can be found on our website. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------

European Plastics Converters (EuPC) is the EU-level trade association representing the European plastics converting industry. Plastics converters use plastics raw materials and recycled polymers to manufacture new products. EuPC totals about 45 national as well as European plastics converting industry associations and represents more than 50,000 companies, producing over 50 million tons of plastic products every year. More than 1.6 million people are working in EU converting companies (mainly SMEs) to create a turnover in excess of € 260 billion per year.  > The results are clear: imposing blanket reuse targets for pallet packaging > will do more harm than good — both environmentally and economically.   As part of the EU’s new Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR), policymakers have introduced mandatory reuse targets for plastic pallet packaging — like stretch wrap and hoods — under Article 29. To understand the real-world impact of this proposal, EuPC commissioned two independent studies:  * A life cycle environmental assessment by IFEU (Germany)1  * An economic impact analysis by RDC Environment (Belgium)2  The results are clear: imposing blanket reuse targets for pallet packaging will do more harm than good — both environmentally and economically.  What the environmental study found   IFEU’s life cycle assessment shows that switching from single-use plastic wrap and hood to reusable systems could actually increase CO2 emissions from 35 percent to up to 1,700 percent, depending on the specific use case. In every application studied, single-use solutions performed better than reusable alternatives across all environmental impact categories — from emissions to resource use.  What the economic study found   RDC’s economic analysis looked at eight key industrial sectors — including retail, agriculture, cement and glass — and found that mandatory reuse systems could result in up to €4.9 billion in additional annual costs just for these eight sectors alone.  Some sectors would be hit particularly hard, seeing potential increased production costs of:  * Retail: up to €400 million   * Glass: up to €780 million  To clarify, these figures refer exclusively to the eight industrial sectors analyzed in the study, which represent only a portion of the product categories transported on pallets in the EU. Since other sectors are not included, the overall EU-wide impact would exceed the €4.9 billion estimated for this limited sample.  Enterprises are likely to face the greatest challenges under mandatory reuse systems. Many lack the reverse logistics or automation needed for reuse systems. For exporters, the burden is even greater, as they would be forced to operate two parallel packaging systems: one compliant with EU reuse requirements and another for non-EU markets. Currently, there are no large-scale reusable packaging systems in place, meaning an entirely new infrastructure would need to be developed within an extremely short timeframe. This raises serious legal, operational and economic concerns, especially for the most vulnerable segments of the market.   What it all means  Both studies agree that replacing recyclable single-use pallet wrap with reusable alternatives is neither greener nor cheaper. If enforced, the proposed reuse targets could undermine PPWR’s goals of creating a truly circular and efficient packaging economy.  That’s why EuPC is calling for the exclusion of pallet wrap and straps from Article 29, using the flexibility allowed through delegated acts under Article 29(18a) and 29(18c).  > If enforced, the proposed reuse targets could undermine PPWR’s goals of > creating a truly circular and efficient packaging economy. The smarter way forward  Single-use, recyclable plastic pallet packaging is already a reality aligned with Europe’s sustainability goals. Solutions that truly work in real-world logistics that are efficient, scalable and sustainable are already an economic reality.  -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Notes Disclaimer: This document reflects EuPC’s independent position and communication. The data and analysis cited are based on studies commissioned by EuPC. 1 Comparative life cycle assessment of various single use and reuse transport packaging  2 Economic impact of switching to reusable options for pallet wrapping