{"id":113587,"date":"2023-12-19T11:18:45","date_gmt":"2023-12-19T10:18:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/eeb.org\/?p=113587"},"modified":"2023-12-19T11:20:29","modified_gmt":"2023-12-19T10:20:29","slug":"council-position-sparks-hope-for-packaging-law-ngos-call-on-institutions-for-stronger-commitment-to-prevention-and-reuse-in-trilogues","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/eeb.org\/en\/council-position-sparks-hope-for-packaging-law-ngos-call-on-institutions-for-stronger-commitment-to-prevention-and-reuse-in-trilogues\/","title":{"rendered":"Council position sparks hope for packaging law, NGOs call on institutions for stronger commitment to prevention and reuse in trilogues"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The EU environment ministers agreed on a general approach for the Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation today. In the context of both record levels of packaging waste and unprecedented lobbying from the single use packaging industry, Member States resisted the most aggressive attempts to water down or delete provisions aiming to prevent waste and kick-start Europe\u2019s growing reuse sector.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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The agreement reached today comes\u00a0 more than a year after the Commission\u2019s proposal. Critically, the Council retained all measures to restrict unnecessary packaging, such as those used for fruit and vegetables as well as single use packaging in restaurants, as well as sectoral reuse targets for 2030 and 2040.<\/p>\n

Although the Council introduced more flexibility for reuse targets than foreseen in the Commission\u2019s proposal, and problematic derogations for cardboard, the scale of targets and the sectors covered were for the most part preserved. This is a stark contrast to the European Parliament\u2019s position, agreed in a plenary vote in November<\/a>, which deleted many measures and introduced broad derogations with weak justifications.<\/p>\n

NGOs have been vocal in denouncing the level of aggressive and misleading lobbying which MEPs faced, largely led by the fast food and paper-based packaging manufacturers which led to an unacceptable dilution of the waste prevention measures in the European Parliament\u2019s final position. An attempt led by Italy and Finland \u2013 home to some of Europe\u2019s biggest fast-food packaging producers \u2013 to mirror the Parliament\u2019s proposals was in the end not supported in Council. NGOs had warned that their proposals risked up to an additional 7.3 million tonnes in waste each year (ref<\/a>).<\/p>\n

\u201cFaced with unprecedented lobbying, untransparent studies and misleading pseudo-science it is encouraging to see that Member States reached an agreement on the Packaging Regulation today. Credit goes to the Spanish Presidency for navigating through conflicting national interests and striking a compromise which retains some ambition on reuse and prevention. The baton is now passed to Belgium who must finalise the trilogues for this important file for the environment and Europe\u2019s circular economy.\u201d <\/em><\/p>\n

Marco Musso,<\/strong> Senior Policy Officer for Circular Economy at EEB<\/em><\/cite><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\u201cThe Council\u2019s support for paper packaging exemptions unfortunately undermines the regulation\u2019s aim to reduce packaging waste. Instead, it will just increase cardboard packaging, adding to the already 3 billion trees cut down every year for packaging alone! True ambition would not include this exemption. Forests are not packaging factories.\u201d <\/em><\/p>\n

Sergio Baffoni, <\/strong>Senior Paper Packaging Campaigner at the Environmental Paper Network<\/em><\/cite><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Regrettably, as part of the compromise, the Council removed the reuse targets for wine, reintroduced the exemptions for cardboard and limited the restrictions on unnecessary packaging for fruits and vegetables only to plastics packaging.Beyond reuse and prevention the agreement also addressed other aspects of the proposal. The ambition of measures to ensure that all packaging will be recyclable by 2030 was also reduced with a new definition of recyclability grades.\u00a0 The Council also offered a very unambitious exemption to establishing DRS systems for single-use plastic bottles and cans if a collection rate of 78% is achieved by 2026. The Council was also more cautious than the Parliament when it came to addressing dangerous chemicals in packaging \u2013 agreeing only to prepare a report on the issue by 2026.<\/p>\n

Only Italy voted against the overall agreement which was adopted with a qualified majority. Since the start of the negotiations Italy has opposed waste prevention and reuse, blindly siding with national throw-away industrial interests and ignoring scientific evidence on the environmental impact of packaging waste.<\/p>\n

The interinstitutional negotiations (trilogues) on the Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation will begin in the new year. An agreement between the three institutions will have to be found within a limited number of meetings because of the European elections in Spring 2024. Earlier the Belgian Government had committed to finalise the file during its presidency citing its importance for the circular economy.<\/p>\n

Notes for editors:\u00a0<\/strong><\/h5>\n