{"id":136774,"date":"2024-01-09T07:22:00","date_gmt":"2024-01-09T06:22:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/?p=136774"},"modified":"2024-01-02T14:25:35","modified_gmt":"2024-01-02T13:25:35","slug":"eu-policy-finland-and-italy-seek-to-hinder-restrictions-on-single-use-packaging","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/eu-policy-finland-and-italy-seek-to-hinder-restrictions-on-single-use-packaging\/","title":{"rendered":"EU Policy:\u00a0Finland and Italy seek to hinder restrictions on single-use packaging"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\n

Finland and Italy have called on governments preparing positions on the Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR) to oppose tough restrictions on single-use packaging, along with proposed targets for reuse, in a joint statement seen by Euronews which was circulated this week among diplomats.<\/p>\n\n\n

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The two countries call in the paper for the removal of targets for reuse and the cancellation of all restrictions on single use packaging. The Italian and Finnish position differs from a compromise \u2018general approach\u2019 \u2014 a political agreement between the European Parliament, the European Commission and the Council \u2014 on the PPWR proposal, also circulated among EU diplomats yesterday (12 December).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Concretely, Finland and Italy want next week\u2019s Environment Council (December 18) in Brussels, where EU Ministers expect to close political negotiations on the PPWR, to avoid restrictions on single-use packaging, especially for food and beverages, an appeal in line with the European Parliament\u2019s decision to water down the single-use restriction provision during plenary in Strasbourg, on November 22.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The two countries are also calling on exemptions for single-use formats that can demonstrate the best environmental outcome or in cases where economic operators can show a high separate collection rate of their packaging waste.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In cases where reuse of packaging \u2014 or access to the necessary infrastructure for proper reuse \u2014 is not technically possible, exemptions should also be considered, the paper says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The joint-document circulated by Finland and Italy also attacks proposed market restrictions related to specific packaging formats, citing a \u201cvery heavy impact\u201d on the agri-food and hospitality sectors. According to the signatories, the upcoming law should \u201cleave the choice open\u201d to packaging alternatives that deliver the best overall environmental outcome in line with a life-cycle assessment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Finland and Italy further claim that reuse and refill targets should be considered \u201conly for products where reuse and refill are technically and practically feasible\u201d. The duo also criticised mandatory reuse targets, especially for food and beverages, saying its impact was not properly assessed, while arguing it could lead to food safety concerns.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The two countries are asking for exemptions to reuse targets when it\u2019s possible to prove these don’t provide the best environmental outcome. In addition, they want the Council to allow EU countries with high rates of separate collection of packaging waste to forego reuse practices. The same goes for those member states with high recycling rates.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jean-Pierre Schweitzer, Policy Manager for Circular Economy at the European Environmental Bureau (EBB) said reuse and restriction of unnecessary packaging are the most environmentally impactful measures in the PPWR. \u201cUndermining these measures is irresponsible and risks permitting an additional 7.3 million tonnes of packaging waste on the market by 2030,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Spanish Presidency confirmed that reuse targets are the \u201cmain open issue\u201d to discuss among policymakers, during a press briefing held yesterday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Justifying their position, Finland and Italy point to the Waste Framework Directive (WFD) \u2014 which has an influence on the PPWR regarding EU waste hierarchy \u2014 saying the WFD \u201cdoes not only aim at preventing waste generation, but follows a scientific life-cycle approach\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Finnish and Italian permanent representations to the EU did not respond to a request for comment at the time of publishing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe hope to reach an agreement to accommodate these concerns [reuse and refill] by more than one member state in a way that ensures ambition is not watered down too much,\u201d the Spanish Presidency of the EU Council told a press conference.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Finland and Italy have called on governments preparing positions on the Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR) to oppose tough restrictions on single-use packaging, along with proposed targets for reuse, in a joint statement seen by Euronews which was circulated this week among diplomats. The two countries call in the paper for the removal of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":59,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"none","nova_meta_subtitle":"Two EU nations threaten to weaken reuse and waste targets ahead of next week's gathering of EU ministers in Brussels","footnotes":""},"categories":[5572,17143],"tags":[10416,6406,7105,23180,15271],"supplier":[6091,4571,4514,5585,14674,8363,13153],"class_list":["post-136774","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-bio-based","category-recycling","tag-circulareconomy","tag-environment","tag-packaging","tag-packagingwaste","tag-singleuseplastics","supplier-european-council","supplier-european-environmental-bureau","supplier-european-parliament","supplier-european-union","supplier-finnish-government-valtioneuvosto","supplier-italian-government","supplier-spanish-government-la-moncloa"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/136774","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\/59"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=136774"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/136774\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=136774"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=136774"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=136774"},{"taxonomy":"supplier","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/supplier?post=136774"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}