Reusable packaging could be the superhero of sustainability – but the European Parliament yielded to throwaway culture
The European Parliament gave in to throwaway culture today in its position on the Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR) proposal, issued by the European Commission one year ago [1]. MEPs voted on hundreds of amendments, many of which aimed to undermine the environmental ambition of the legislative text. The abundance of options provoked a barrage of false claims, scaremongering, and intense lobbying from industry players in the run-up to the vote.
What happened?
In their report adopted today on the proposal for an EU Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR), most MEPs voted in favour of weakening requirements for reusable packaging and restrictions on unnecessary packaging.
Regretfully, the 2040 reuse targets were deleted, watered down, or made non-binding. 2030 targets remain, but Member States with high recycling rates would be able to derogate from those – comparing apples with pears. Recycling alone is not the solution to this problem – unnecessary packaging (and packaging waste) must be eliminated.
On the positive side, Member States would need to reduce total levels of packaging waste by 5% by 2030 and 15% by 2040 – meaning that national governments would have to implement this and be held accountable.
Why it matters
Shifting to reusable packaging, rather than relying on throwaway options, would lower environmental impacts in the long term, reducing waste and the demand for new materials [2]. It will also be cheaper for consumers, who can use the same containers again and again. Ensuring efficient reusable packaging systems will help us to consume within our planet’s boundaries, limiting the amount of waste we produce, and taking us a step closer to a circular economy.
What is on the table?
With the goal of making all packaging reusable or recyclable by 2030 and reducing packaging waste, the European Commission proposed in November 2022 to overhaul the rules governing packaging and packaging waste in the EU. This included, for the first time, a mandatory waste prevention target for Member States, EU-wide bans on specific packaging formats, and obligations for businesses of different sectors to ensure the use of reusable packaging, to varying degrees, by 2030 and 2040 [3]. The European Parliament’s decision to weaken many of these progressive proposals casts a shadow over upcoming negotiations on the legislation and we call on the Council to maintain the proposal’s original ambition.
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Mathias Falkenberg, Programme Manager at ECOS – Environmental Coalition on Standards, said:
This decision will not sufficiently address rising plastic and packaging waste, or the pollution crisis. The European Parliament has just weakened a perfectly feasible solution to tackle throwaway culture, without offering an alternative. It is very frustrating that the European Commission’s progressive prevention and reuse agenda has not received full support from the Parliament today. The few improvements from MEPs, such as minimum durability standards for reusable packaging, do little to make up for the overall lack of ambition.
ENDS
Notes to editors:
[1] Proposal for a revision of EU legislation on Packaging and Packaging Waste, European Commission, November 2022: https://environment.ec.europa.eu/publications/proposal-packaging-and-packaging-waste_en
[2] Assessing Climate Impact: Reusable Systems vs. Single-use Takeaway Packaging, by Zero Waste Europe, Reloop, and TOMRA, produced by Eunomia Research & Consulting, September 2023: https://zerowasteeurope.eu/library/assessing-climate-impact-reusable-systems-vs-single-use-takeaway-packaging/
[3] ECOS reaction to EU Circular Economy package: ‘too little, too slow’, ECOS, November 2022: https://ecostandard.org/news_events/ecos-reaction-to-eu-circular-economy-package-too-little-too-slow/
[4] ECOS position paper on the European Commission proposal for a Regulation on Packaging and Packaging Waste, ECOS, May 2023: https://ecostandard.org/publications/ecos-position-paper-european-commission-proposal-for-a-regulation-on-packaging-and-packaging-waste/
[5] ECOS position paper on the role of legislation and standards in mainstreaming reusable packaging, ECOS, July 2021: https://ecostandard.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/ECOS-Position-paper-Reusable-packaging-July-2021.pdf
[6] ECOS is a member of the Rethink Plastic Alliance, a network of leading European NGOs, with thousands of active groups, supporters and citizens in every EU Member State. For further analysis on the PPWR, please consult the alliance’s reaction.
Contact:
If you have questions, please contact me:
Alison Grace
Press & Communications Manager at ECOS
alison.grace@ecostandard.org
+32 493 19 22 59
ECOS – Environmental Coalition on Standards is an international NGO with a network of members and experts advocating for environmentally friendly technical standards, policies, and laws.
ECOS is a member of the Rethink Plastic Alliance, a network of leading European NGOs, with thousands of active groups, supporters and citizens in every EU Member State.
