The revision of the Packaging and Packaging Waste Directive (94/62/EC), which aims to promote the reuse of packaging and prevent packaging waste in the European Union, has been the subject of an initial examination by the Environment Working Group of the Council of the EU, under the Swedish Presidency, but the Member States have not yet finished wrangling over this proposal for a regulation, which will be presented at the end of November 2022.
The political debate to be held by the Environment Ministers of the EU Member States on Thursday 16 March should help guide further work on this legislation, which combines recycling, reuse of packaging, minimum recycled content obligations, prevention and minimisation of packaging waste, as part of the second circular economy legislative package (see EUROPE 13074/7).
To achieve this, the future regulation aims to reduce packaging waste by 15% per Member State and per capita by 2040 and to ensure that all packaging on the EU market is recyclable in an economically viable way by 2030.
In a preparatory note to this debate, the Swedish Presidency of the Council underlines the importance of this text for the circular economy - one of its priorities in the field of the environment (see EUROPE 13107/6, 13093/7) - and the EU’s strategic autonomy, while noting the difficulties encountered by delegations and their need for clarification.
It notes that “the proposal aims to reverse unsustainable and costly trends related to packaging and packaging waste” as well as to “boost high quality recycling, and create a market for secondary raw materials, while at the same time facilitating consumer information, creating new business opportunities and reducing the EU’s import dependency on raw materials and fossil fuels”.
On this basis, Ministers will be asked to comment on the overall level of ambition of the proposal and to identify the elements they consider most appropriate and timely.
The Presidency will also invite them to state what they consider to be the most important measures to promote packaging waste prevention and encourage innovative solutions in the EU.
See the Swedish Presidency note in English: https://aeur.eu/f/5r4 (Original version in French by Aminata Niang)