01 Dec - Brussels set to propose watered down EU packaging law after industry outcry
Source: Eurativ
Brussels set to propose watered down EU packaging law after industry outcry
The European Commission is due to propose a new law to tackle packaging waste on Wednesday (30 November) with watered down reuse targets after an outcry from industry, according to a leaked draft of the new regulation, seen by EURACTIV.
The new packaging and packaging waste legislation will see a wide-ranging overhaul of the current law, including mandatory targets for recycled content into new plastics and design criteria to help recycling.
But the latest leaked draft shows a drop in ambition from a previous version, particularly regarding reuse targets, which were criticised as an “existential threat” to existing recycling systems by a group representing the soft drinks industry.
The reuse targets have now changed significantly, with some dropping by 50 percentage points. According to the new draft, reusable packaging should be used for:
20% of hot and cold beverages by 2030 and 80% by 2040 (down from 30% by 2030 and 95% by 2040 in the previous draft);
10% of takeaway ready-prepared food by 2030 and 40% by 2040 (down from 20% by 2030 and 75% by 2040);
10% of alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages (excluding wine and spirits) by 2030 and 25% by 2040 (down from 20% by 2030 and 75% by 2040).
Targets for reusable packaging used in deliveries have also been lowered. For instance, e-commerce deliveries will need to have 10% reusable packaging by 2030 and 50% by 2040, down from to 20% and 80% respectively in the previous version.
Some targets remain the same, however. This includes a 90%objective for large household appliances to be delivered in reusable packaging by 2030. The draft also introduces a reuse target for wine bottles. Now 5% will need to be reusable by 2030 and 15% by 2040.
But the industry is still concerned about the reuse targets.
“I think the changes that we’re seeing in the new draft actually raise even more questions on how these targets were formulated in the first place,” said Francesca Stevens from EUROPEN, which represents the whole packaging value chain.
“We remain with the same questions we had at the beginning: how have these targets been generated, what data is behind the impact assessment to propose what appear to be non-realistic targets [and] what kind of consequences and trade offs these targets might trigger in terms of climate or environmental footprint,” she told EURACTIV.
Meanwhile, the environmental organisation Zero Waste Europe warned against lowering ambition in the legislation.
“Contrary to the claims of some industry players, the data clearly shows that ambitious reuse targets are necessary,” according to ZWE’s Larissa Copello, who says greater reuse would reduce energy and resource use and lead to less waste and CO2 emissions.
“The European Commission has the power to either send a strong signal to the EU packaging market to finally move towards waste-free and resource prevention practices or to maintain the ‘status quo’ with business-as-usual and wasteful practices,” she claimed.
New recycled content targets
In the latest draft, the European Commission has also changed the targets for mandatory recycled content in plastic packaging for 2030. By the end of the decade, recycled content will need to make up:
30% of contact-sensitive packaging made from PET as the major component (changed from 25% for all contact-sensitive plastic packaging);
10% for contact-sensitive packaging, except single use plastic beverage bottles made from plastic materials other than PET;
30% for single use plastic beverage bottles (changed from 50%); and
35% for plastic packaging other than these (changed from 45%).
The new targets were also criticised by Stevens.
“It is still quite concerning to see [the targets], especially for contact sensitive packaging,” she told EURACTIV, adding they are a particular concern for the pharmecutical industry.
Contact-senstive plastic packaging for medical devices such as in vitro diagnostics products will be exempt from the recycled content targets until 2035, but will then have to jump up to higher targets in five years.
Zero Waste Europe, for its part, criticised the drop in ambition.
“The lowering of the recycled content target for single-use plastic beverage bottles and other contact-sensitive plastic packaging reflects the fact that ‘safe recycling’ and ‘a full circularity of plastics’ is a wishful thinking that the industry is unable to fulfill,” said Dorota Napierska, a campaigner at the green NGO.
“Even worse: the same industry is calling for lowering reuse targets so as not to undermine ‘successful plastic recycling schemes’,” she added.
Recycling measures scrapped
Other changes include removing a list, which would have banned certain characteristics, like dark blue or black glass and plastic sleeves covering 50% of the bottle, which hinder the recycling process.
Stevens also told EURACTIV she was concerned about new obligations being imposed on producers without improving waste collection, which is vital to get more material to recyclers. The latest draft indeed removes references to the Waste Framework Directive, which lays out separate collection obligations on EU countries.
Despite those changes, Clarissa Morawski from the Reloop coalition of businesses and NGOs, said that, overall, the revision “is still very strong”.
“It fundamentally shifts the burden of compliance directly and equally across the EU to the ‘economic operators’. It’s a good start,” she told EURACTIV.
Her comments follow a letter by the industry and NGOs coming to the defence of ambitious reuse targets and insisting that, while some concerns may have had merit, it should not be delayed again.
The proposal, they argue, is “in line with Europe’s goals regarding the preservation of resources which are packaging materials and avoiding wasting these resources by collecting, processing and recirculating them back into the European economy”.