Beyond the bans on 10 single-use plastic products that came into force on 3 July under the SUP Directive (see EUROPE 12753/15), the EU must support environmentally friendly reusable solutions through binding legislation to prevent an equally damaging shift towards alternative single-use materials, NGOs, industry associations and policymakers said on Tuesday 6 July.
Among those attending the sixth European conference on reuse in Berlin were Austrian Minister for Climate and Environment Leonore Gewessler and MEP Sven Giegold (Greens/EFA, Germany).
In a joint statement, they stress that the European Green Deal should promote reuse schemes across the EU, which requires the introduction of binding waste reduction and reuse targets when revising the EU’s waste directives.
In their view, reusable solutions for drinks bottles, takeaway food containers and coffee cups, as well as B2B and B2C transport packaging should become the norm.
According to a report by the Rethink Plastic Alliance and Break Free From Plastic published the same day, a 50% target for reusable packaging by 2030 in the EU for three key sectors - takeaway food containers and cups, postal packaging for clothing and e-commerce accessories, and household cleaning product containers used in supermarkets - would save 3.7 million tonnes of CO2, 10 billion cubic metres of water and nearly 28 million tonnes of materials.
This report highlights how the concept of reuse can flourish with the right sector-specific targets, the right policy frameworks to significantly contribute to the goals of the circular economy and the Paris Climate Agreement, while saving companies and consumers money.
Read the report: https://bit.ly/3hhWT5f (Original version in French by Aminata Niang)