{"id":172983,"date":"2026-02-09T07:26:00","date_gmt":"2026-02-09T06:26:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/?p=172983"},"modified":"2026-02-04T14:00:02","modified_gmt":"2026-02-04T13:00:02","slug":"jrc-technical-proposal-on-eu-harmonised-waste-sorting-labels-under-the-packaging-and-packaging-waste-regulation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/jrc-technical-proposal-on-eu-harmonised-waste-sorting-labels-under-the-packaging-and-packaging-waste-regulation\/","title":{"rendered":"JRC technical proposal on EU harmonised waste sorting labels under the packaging and packaging waste regulation"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"alignright size-large is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"724\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/media\/2026\/02\/JRC141706_cover-724x1024.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-172985\" style=\"width:400px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/media\/2026\/02\/JRC141706_cover-724x1024.jpg 724w, https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/media\/2026\/02\/JRC141706_cover-212x300.jpg 212w, https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/media\/2026\/02\/JRC141706_cover-106x150.jpg 106w, https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/media\/2026\/02\/JRC141706_cover-768x1086.jpg 768w, https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/media\/2026\/02\/JRC141706_cover-1086x1536.jpg 1086w, https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/media\/2026\/02\/JRC141706_cover-191x270.jpg 191w, https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/media\/2026\/02\/JRC141706_cover.jpg 1240w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 724px) 100vw, 724px\" \/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n<p><strong>This report outlines a technical proposal for EU harmonised waste sorting labels based on insights from behavioural and participatory design research. Specifically, it proposes the harmonised visual and systemic design of consumer-facing labels applicable to packaging waste, to be applied on packaging and waste receptacles. The proposal is based on extensive desk research, systematically gathered empirical evidence from citizen workshops, surveys, and experiments, as well as insights from expert stakeholder workshops and consultations. The report outlines a comprehensive conceptual and visual proposal consistent with the Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation\u2014particularly its ambition to reduce internal market barriers\u2014and the various waste sorting schemes existing in the Member States. It makes evidence-based recommendations for a flexible, yet harmonised conceptual approach based on informing consumers about the material composition of packaging and communicating correct sorting instructions through matching labels on packaging and waste receptacles, and for a flexible, yet harmonised visual approach ensuring consumer understanding and salience across Member States, while aiming to provide adequate flexibility for their use on packaging and waste receptacles. The report proposes a level of granularity specifying the distinct labels required based on theoretical and practical considerations. Importantly, the report also highlights challenges identified, compromises that had to be made, and need for future work given the complex interplay of regulatory requirements, citizen and expert stakeholder preferences, practical limitations and best practices from behavioural and design research. In its entirety, the report aims at informing the Directorate-General for the Environment in creating the implementing acts outlined in Articles 12(6) and 13(2) of the Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Authors:<\/strong> BRUNS Hendrik\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-4301-0009\"><\/a>;\u00a0BORSELLO Alessandro;\u00a0DUPOUX Marion\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-8522-4606\"><\/a>;\u00a0HAMARAT Yaprak\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-8357-0006\"><\/a>;\u00a0MILIOS Leonidas;\u00a0PAPA Francesca<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Citation: <\/strong>BRUNS, H., BORSELLO, A., DUPOUX, M., HAMARAT, Y., MILIOS, L. et al., JRC technical proposal on EU harmonised waste sorting labels under the packaging and packaging waste regulation, Publications Office of the European Union, Luxembourg, 2026, https:\/\/data.europa.eu\/doi\/10.2760\/8070242, JRC141706.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Date available: <\/strong>2026-01-13<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Publisher: <\/strong>Publications Office of the European Union<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>JRC-number: <\/strong>JRC141706<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>ISBN:<\/strong> 978-92-68-35148-2 (online)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>ISSN:<\/strong> 1831-9424 (online)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Other identifiers: <\/strong>EUR 40581 , OP KJ-01-25-651-EN-N (online)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>URI:<\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/publications.jrc.ec.europa.eu\/repository\/handle\/JRC141706\">https:\/\/publications.jrc.ec.europa.eu\/repository\/handle\/JRC141706<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>DOI: <\/strong><a class=\"\" href=\"https:\/\/dx.doi.org\/10.2760\/8070242\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">10.2760\/8070242 (online)<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>This report outlines a technical proposal for EU harmonised waste sorting labels based on insights from behavioural and participatory design research. Specifically, it proposes the harmonised visual and systemic design of consumer-facing labels applicable to packaging waste, to be applied on packaging and waste receptacles. The proposal is based on extensive desk research, systematically gathered [&#8230;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":114,"featured_media":172985,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"none","nova_meta_subtitle":"The report proposes a level of granularity specifying the distinct labels required based on theoretical and practical considerations","footnotes":""},"categories":[5572,17143],"tags":[5838,10416,7105,10453,13268],"supplier":[2317,5585],"class_list":["post-172983","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bio-based","category-recycling","tag-bioeconomy","tag-circulareconomy","tag-packaging","tag-recycling","tag-waste","supplier-european-commission","supplier-european-union"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/172983","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\/114"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=172983"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/172983\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/172985"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=172983"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=172983"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=172983"},{"taxonomy":"supplier","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/supplier?post=172983"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}