Rethink Plastic alliance responds to the European Commission’s proposal for a Delegated Act to exempt pallet wrappings and straps from the 100% reuse targets in the Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation/
This paper provides technical recommendations to inform the European Commission’s forthcoming implementing act under Articles 29 and 30 of the Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR). The objective is to establish a harmonised and auditable methodology for calculating and verifying the share of reusable packaging placed on the market by economic operators.
In this report we conduct a comparative assessment of three representative standards for reusable packaging - to evaluate their alignment with the requirements and objectives of the EU Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation.
Standards will play an essential role in implementing the EU's new packaging rules. Join us on 2 October to learn more about the standardisation process and hear from experts about best practices and recent developments, as we discuss solutions for packaging minimisation, refill, and reuse.
A lack of legal guidelines and harmonised standards for reusable packaging has created a fragmented landscape. Systems are not interoperable and businesses are left grappling with uncertainty and struggling to compete with single-use alternatives. Minimum durability requirements and European harmonised standards for testing, measurements, and calculations would ensure that the EU's new packaging rules are robust, effective, and truly transformative.
Press release, Brussels | Member States must step up efforts to ensure the EU meets its packaging waste goals, says the NGO group Rethink Plastic alliance. A new report reveals how national and local governments can make the most of the opportunities provided by the EU’s new packaging rules.
National and local governments could slash record levels of packaging waste if they follow this roadmap. By the Rethink Plastic alliance with Break Free From Plastic, Zero Waste Europe, ClientEarth Europe, Environmental Coalition on Standards, Fair Resource Foundation, and the European Environmental Bureau.
Our new five-year strategy will help deliver our vision of a healthy and clean environment, protected by robust rules that respect nature and its resources. In our 2025 work programme, we lay out how we will create momentum for ambitious, systemic change. We also take a deep dive on some key EU files for 2025 and analyse the EU’s new rules on packaging and ecodesign, which are now at the crucial stage of implementation – where secondary legislation and standards will play an important role.
The EU Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR) provides a foundation for more sustainable packaging but leaves too much room for voluntary adoption. For a stronger commitment to reducing packaging waste, we need Member States to go beyond the minimum requirements of the regulation. It will be crucial to adopt ambitious secondary legislation and standards that will address sustainable waste management, helping the much-needed shift towards more sustainable packaging.
Rules governing the EU packaging sector will become more harmonised, but the regulation leaves a lot of room for Member States to grant derogations, (or not), and to adopt measures going further than the regulation. How national governments use this room for manoeuvre will determine if a reduction in packaging waste is achieved. Learn more in our analysis.
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Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or EISMEA. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.
