Objectives from the EU Proposal on Packaging

The Environmental Commission of the European Parliament has proposed setting requirements for the entire life cycle of packaging, in order to facilitate its recycling and reuse. In fact, every European citizen generates around 190 kg of waste every year due to packaging.

Waste reduction targets for plastic packaging have been identified: 10% by 2030, 15% by 2035, and 20% by 2040.

The banned list will include plastic bags weighing less than 15 microns, as well as harmful chemical substances that are added to packaging to make them fireproof and/or waterproof. The plastic parts of packaging should have minimum percentages of recycled content and, by the end of 2025, the Commission will evaluate the possibility of proposing objectives and criteria for the sustainability of bioplastics. Reusable packaging should meet several criteria, including a minimum number of reuses, which gives consumers the option to use their own containers. Finally, by 2029, EU countries will have to guarantee a separate collection of 90% of packaging materials (plastic, wood, ferrous metals, aluminium, glass, paper, and cardboard).

The proposal, although welcomed, was considered too stringent by the political, industrial, and associative world. The discussion now moves to the Plenary Assembly, scheduled for November 20th to 23rd.