A compromise proposal was reached in trialogue negotiations on the provisional EU packaging regulation on Monday evening. The BDE Federal Association of the German Waste, Water and Recycling Industry sees the provisional agreement as the right vote.
„We are very relieved. The new EU-wide rules for packaging are urgently needed to further develop the high-quality, resource- and climate-friendly recycling of packaging waste. This is exactly what is important.“
Andreas Bruckschen, BDE Managing Director
On Monday evening, following intensive discussions, the European Parliament and the Council reached a provisional agreement in trilogue negotiations on a new compromise proposal by the Belgian Council Presidency. EU Packaging Regulation achieved. The aim is to minimise the increase in packaging waste generated in the EU, at the same time as harmonising the internal market for packaging and promoting the circular economy. The new EU Packaging Regulation takes into account the entire life cycle of packaging. It requires that All packaging recyclable from 2030 are. In addition, the harmonisation of packaging labelling will be introduced to improve separate collection by consumers.
The provisional agreement also Recyclate utilisation rates in plastic packaging for 2030 and 2040 has been set. The Commission will review the implementation of the 2030 quotas and possibly adjust the quotas for 2040 as part of a revision. According to information from the BDE, the provisional agreement states that the recyclates used to achieve the use quotas for plastic packaging must be obtained from waste that was previously placed on the market as a product within the EU and generated there as waste. At the last minute, the Commission expressed concerns of a trade law nature in this regard, but Parliament and the Council do not share these concerns. So far Low prices for primary plastics and increasingly also imports of supposedly recycled plastics This has put considerable pressure on the already very tight market for recyclates and has already led to the closure of plastics recycling plants in Germany. The BDE is therefore extremely pleased that the Council and Parliament have ignored the Commission's concerns.
In line with the waste hierarchy, the Packaging Ordinance also aims to minimise the Significantly reduce the volume of packaging waste, by setting binding targets for reuse and minimising packaging size.
„Now that this agreement has been reached, it is important that the compromises agreed by the negotiators on Monday evening are not subsequently called into question by individual Member States in the Council. We therefore once again expressly appeal to the German government not to torpedo the Packaging Ordinance, but to support it! The legislative process must now be finalised so that we can quickly achieve the recycling of packaging.“
Andreas Bruckschen
The political agreement reached on Monday evening is provisional and therefore requires formal adoption by both institutions, before it can be published in the Official Journal of the European Union and enter into force. In principle, the Regulation will become directly applicable 18 months after its entry into force.
Source: BDE
