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On 24 October 2023, the European Parliament's Environment Committee will decide on amendments to the EU Packaging Regulation. The special rules for plastic packaging in particular have been criticised by the German Plastics Packaging Federation.
The European Parliament announced on the afternoon of 24 October that the Environment Committee had voted in favour of the EU regulation on Packaging and packaging waste (PPWR) adopted numerous amendments. Among the changes, some should be mentioned with regard to the Avoidance of plastic packaging and access to recycled materials.
The committee's overall position on the planned new regulation received 56 votes in favour, 23 against and five abstentions. Now the Vote in plenary during the meeting from 20 to 23 November. The outcome of the meeting will form the Parliament's position in the subsequent negotiations with the Council, representing the Member States, on the final shape of the new regulation. For the EU countries have not yet finalised their positions on the proposal.
Criticism from the plastics industry
The criticism is directed against proposals by rapporteur Frédérique Ries for Special reduction targets for plastic packaging, exemptions for composite packaging from the mandatory recyclate use quotas for plastic as well as bans on disposable packaging and reusable quotas, which only apply to plastic packaging and provide for exceptions for corrugated cardboard packaging.
„Our member companies are already in the middle of the Transformation towards less packaging waste, more recyclable packaging and greater use of recycled materials. However, we believe that these goals are massively jeopardised by the special rules for plastic packaging proposed by Ms Ries,“ explains Dr Martin Engelmann, Managing Director of the IK Industrial Association plastic packaging, and calls for material-neutral regulations, so that each packaging material can play to its strengths for the benefit of the environment, the climate and consumers. Against this backdrop, the alternative proposal put forward by the EPP and ECR groups at short notice is also not expedient.
The IK particularly criticises the fact that a special reduction target for plastic packaging and the unequal treatment with other packaging materials leads to a switch to disposable packaging made from other materials, e.g. Paper packaging laminated or coated with plastic, which are criticised because the plastic they contain cannot be recycled.
Material efficiency and take-away packaging
The IK also refers to a recent study by the GVM Society for Packaging Market Research, according to which a 10 per cent reduction in plastic packaging by 2030 - provided it is replaced by other materials - will increase the amount of household packaging by around 10 to 20 per cent and greenhouse gas emissions by 10 to 14 per cent. „The reason for this is that plastic packaging with an average weight of 24 grams per kilogramme packaged product are significantly more material-efficient than alternative packaging materials“, explains Dr Isabell Schmidt, Managing Director of Circular Economy at IK.
In view of the great potential for reducing packaging waste through innovative reusable packaging for take-away food and drinks and reusable transport boxes in the wholesale and retail sectors, it is important that the packaging waste is minimised. incomprehensible why the rapporteur limits the requirements to plastic packaging. or wants to cancel it completely.
„A huge opportunity to reduce single-use packaging and greenhouse gas emissions remains untapped simply because reusable quotas could favour plastic packaging. Numerous studies by environmental organisations confirm that simply replacing plastic with other disposable materials is not the right way to make the packaging market more environmentally sustainable.“
Dr Isabell Schmidt
Finally, the IK is calling for the inclusion of a credit system in the regulatory text in order to mitigate the negative consequences of the expected recyclate gap from 2030, particularly in the area of PE and PP recyclates.
Source: IK
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