of the European Parliament and the Council on packaging and packaging waste, amending Regulation (EU) 2019/1020, and repealing Directive 94/62/EC

Introduction

Directive 94/62/EC on packaging and packaging waste (PPWD) aims to harmonise national measures, protect the environment, and ensure a good functioning of the internal market. It requires Member States to ensure that packaging placed on the EU market meets a number of Essential Requirements related to the manufacturing and labelling of packaging, and its reusable and recoverable nature (through material recycling, energy recovery or composting).

Packaging is a significant economic activity: Packaging manufacturing generated in the EU a turnover of EUR 355 billion in 2018 and the operators in its waste management EUR 15 billion. It also leads to significant environmental impacts, from over-exploitation of resources to pollution of ecosystems, and Green House Gas emissions equivalent to the total annual emissions of Hungary.

Problem Definition

The aim of this initiative is to tackle three groups of interlinked problems:

1.growing generation of packaging waste linked to an increase of single-use packaging, a high level of avoidable packaging, and a bigger share in plastics within the packaging mix.

2.barriers to packaging circularity, especially an increased use of packaging design features that inhibit recycling and confusing labelling of packaging for consumer sorting. Further, fragmented markets prevent cost-efficient waste management in an internal market.

3.downcycling and the low levels of uptake of recycled content in packaging, which limits the EU's ability to reduce the use of virgin materials in new packaging.

The drivers behind these problems include the regulatory failures of the PPWD due to a mixture of poor implementation and enforcement, not being up to date with the latest market developments and by not providing enough clarity to national authorities about an implementation, which is compliant with the Directive. Further, its revision of 2018 only focused on recycling targets, leaving aside the other challenges of the waste sector. Two specific acts, the Single-Use Plastic Directive (SUPD) from 2019 and the 2020 Own Resource Decision (ORD), which both have plastic packaging under their scope, are not expected to solve the problems mentioned above, not even just those linked to plastics. The regulatory failure is aggravated by market failures, such as environmental externalities, fragmented markets and poorly performing labelling.

As a result, packaging waste is increasing: Total packaging waste generated is forecasted to increase from 78 million tonnes in 2018 to 92 million tonnes in 2030, and 107 million tonnes in 2040. The consequences include increased use of non-renewable resources, inefficient waste management, negative climate impacts, littering, overuse of substances of concern in packaging, low quality recycling, and excessive landfill, incineration and export at end life.

Why should the EU act?

The regulatory failure of the PPWD cannot be remedied simply by better enforcement of the current rules. Moreover, the available data hint that, neither measures undertaken by the Member States based on the current PPWD, nor those based on the ORD or SUPD are sufficient to ensure that they meet all the specific targets for the recycling rates set out in the PPWD. The EU´s packaging market and waste management is in many respects one common large market, rather than 27 individual markets and is characterised by high levels of cross-border trade between Member States.

Setting common requirements at EU level, will ensure a harmonised and well-functioning internal market across all Member States and, therefore, a level playing field for packaging producers leading in the end to efficiency gains to the benefit of the EU citizen. As part of the new proposal there will be a switch from a Directive to a Regulation. This will simplify the existing rules, provide a clearer framework to manufacturers and reduce administrative burden. At the same time the package proposed reflects subsidiarity principles as regards the necessity of EU action and an evident added value of that EU action.

Objectives

The general objective of the legislative proposal is to reduce negative environmental impacts of packaging and packaging waste and improve the functioning of the internal market, thus boosting efficiency gains in the sector. The aim is to create a resilient value chain, starting from the design of the packaging till its re-use or -integration in high quality products, thus creating innovative, “green” jobs in a low carbon packaging industry. The specific objectives to meet this general objective are to:

1.Reduce the generation of packaging waste

2.Promote a circular economy for packaging in a cost-efficient way

3.Promote the uptake of recycled content in packaging

What are the available policy options?