{"id":125524,"date":"2023-04-19T07:09:00","date_gmt":"2023-04-19T05:09:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/?p=125524"},"modified":"2023-04-19T09:45:49","modified_gmt":"2023-04-19T07:45:49","slug":"left-wing-lawmakers-to-prioritise-waste-prevention-in-new-eu-packaging-law","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/left-wing-lawmakers-to-prioritise-waste-prevention-in-new-eu-packaging-law\/","title":{"rendered":"Left-wing lawmakers to prioritise waste prevention in new EU packaging law"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\n

The EU\u2019s waste framework directive defines a \u2018hierarchy\u2019 for waste management<\/a>, with prevention and reuse as the most preferred options, followed by recycling, energy recovery, and disposal as a last resort.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The EU’s new packaging law needs to prioritise waste treatments with the least impact on the environment, according to two key lawmakers. \u00a9<\/strong> Hrytsiv Oleksandr \/ Shutterstock<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

As the EU debates its new packaging and packaging waste regulation (PPWR), left-wing lawmakers are determined to prioritise the measures at the top of the hierarchy, which are the most environmentally friendly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cPackaging waste is on the increase and it will continue to grow substantially unless we significantly reduce how much of it is produced in the first place,\u201d said Grace O\u2019Sullivan, an Irish MEP, working on the PPWR on behalf of the Greens in the European Parliament.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThat means prioritising upstream solutions, rather than trying to solve the problem by only looking at downstream measures,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The European Commission\u2019s proposal, tabled in November last year,<\/a> offers \u201csome good levers\u201d for waste prevention with provisions to increase reuse and refill, bans on avoidable single-use packaging and design criteria to avoid superfluous packaging, said Delara Burkhardt, the lawmaker working on the file for the Socialists and Democrats (S&D) group.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But while she and O\u2019Sullivan support the proposal, both told EURACTIV it needs to be more ambitious.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOverall, the Commission\u2019s proposal is a good starting point but the measures could and should be strengthened further if we are serious about tackling the mountains of packaging waste that we produce every day,\u201d O\u2019Sullivan said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

EURACTIV contacted the other lawmakers working on the packaging law, but did not receive a response by the time of publication.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Prioritising prevention and reuse<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The EU\u2019s draft regulation introduces measures to boost waste prevention, including a target to reduce packaging waste by 5% by 2030 and bans on single-use packaging in places like hotels and restaurants. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI find this very straight-forward and reasonable. We all use washable and reusable cups, bowls and plates at home. I wonder why restaurants should not do the same,\u201d said S&D\u2019s Burkhardt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIf someone demands to take certain packaging bans out of the regulation, I would like to know from these people what their alternatives are,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The proposal also introduces targets for reuse, although these dropped dramatically between a leaked draft and the final version<\/a> of the proposal tabled by the Commission. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As the legislation arrives in the European Parliament, both O\u2019Sullivan and Burkhardt want to see reuse targets bumped up again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cParticularly in the bottle sector, the level of ambition for reuse should be higher,\u201d Burkardt told EURACTIV, emphasising that the targets include a long transition period and exemptions for small companies to help with implementation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThese targets are important to kick-start the building-up of the infrastructure needed for a wider roll-out and use of reuseable packaging formats,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, the industry is cautious about the recycling and reuse targets included in the regulation, and warns against the potential bans that could follow for those who fail to meet them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For instance, the beverage carton industry is warning that the proposed 2035 target on recycling leaves them at the mercy of EU countries, who are in charge of collection but won\u2019t suffer the consequences if targets aren\u2019t met.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIf you don\u2019t recycle at scale, you are banned [from the EU market as an industry],\u201d said Annick Carpentier the Alliance for Beverage Cartons and the Environment (ACE), an industry group.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAnd that is another ball game,\u201d she said, calling on governments to increase collection rates for beverage cartons to a minimum of 90% by 2030.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Assessing the costs and benefits of reuse<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Meanwhile, Francesca Stevens, the secretary general of packaging industry group Europen, likened the bans to \u201cputting a sticking plaster over poorly drafted sections of the legislation\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe urge co-legislators to hold off from adopting such restrictions until their implications for human health and the environment have been properly assessed,\u201d she told EURACTIV.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are also concerns about an overemphasis on reuse, with the industry warning this could ultimately cause more harm to the environment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cDifferent life-cycle assessment studies have shown that reuse options have a higher or equivalent environmental footprint compared to single use packaging,\u201d said ACE\u2019s Annick Carpentier. \u201cHence, we call for the reuse targets to be duly assessed with regard to the proven environmental benefits but also considering health and safety implications and impact on food waste\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Stevens agrees that, while reuse has a role to play in advancing packaging sustainability, its potential costs and benefits need to be properly assessed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cScaling-up reuse at the level of major distribution requires significant investments in infrastructure and reuse systems, which have been grossly underestimated in the impact assessment\u201d done by the European Commission, she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSimilarly, to determine when reuse is a better environmental option than a single-use equivalent, targets should have been assessed against a thorough life cycle assessment methodology, including the minimum number of returns of reusable options,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Asked about concerns that reuse could drive a surge in plastic use or increased carbon emissions, Burkhardt said she suspected these are not about the environment, but about business models.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNaturally, there is quite some pushback on the innovative parts of the Commission proposal, like the reuse targets. They are threatening established business models that are based on throw-away packaging,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meanwhile, O\u2019Sullivan told EURACTIV that there may be cases when reuse may not make sense but this should not lead to point-blank refusal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe question we should be asking is: How should we set up reuse systems so that they positively contribute to our sustainability goals? But instead of constructively engaging in this question, we are hearing dogmatic opposition from some sectors who have an interest in maintaining the status quo of single-use packaging used en masse,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The proposal is currently being discussed by the European Parliament and the 27 EU countries. Both Burkhardt and O\u2019Sullivan want it to be agreed before the 2024 elections to ensure it is quickly implemented and turns the EU\u2019s waste problem around.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The EU\u2019s waste framework directive defines a \u2018hierarchy\u2019 for waste management, with prevention and reuse as the most preferred options, followed by recycling, energy recovery, and disposal as a last resort. As the EU debates its new packaging and packaging waste regulation (PPWR), left-wing lawmakers are determined to prioritise the measures at the top of the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"none","nova_meta_subtitle":"Prioritising the most environmentally-friendly ways of dealing with waste, starting with prevention and reuse, should be central to Europe\u2019s new packaging law, lawmakers working on the file told EURACTIV","footnotes":""},"categories":[17143],"tags":[7105,22041,10453,13268],"supplier":[7297,2317,4514,5585],"class_list":["post-125524","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-recycling","tag-packaging","tag-ppwr","tag-recycling","tag-waste","supplier-ace","supplier-european-commission","supplier-european-parliament","supplier-european-union"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/125524","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=125524"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/125524\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=125524"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=125524"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=125524"},{"taxonomy":"supplier","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/supplier?post=125524"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}