By adopting the amended report by the French Liberal, Frédérique Ries (Renew Europe), by 56 votes to 23, with 5 abstentions, the European Parliament’s Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety (ENVI), voted, on Tuesday 24 October, in favour of a revision of the Packaging and Packaging Waste Directive that would reconcile ambition in tackling the mountain of packaging waste (almost 190 kg per inhabitant in 2021) with pragmatism.
The package of compromise amendments to the future EU regulation (‘PPWR’), hard-fought by the S&D, Renew Europe, Greens/EFA and The Left groups, has received majority support (see EUROPE 13276/13). Amendments from the EPP and ECR groups aimed at further weakening the re-use aspect of the proposal were rejected.
The text adopted aims to reduce plastic packaging, combat chemical pollutants and encourage the reuse of packaging, while sparing the takeaway food sector from constraints.
Reducing plastic waste. MEPs want to ban the sale of very light plastic checkout bags (less than 15 microns), unless they are needed for hygiene reasons or are used as primary packaging for bulk foods to prevent food waste.
In addition to the overall packaging reduction targets proposed by the Commission, MEPs want to set specific waste reduction targets for plastic packaging (10% by 2030, 15% by 2035 and 20% by 2040). The plastic part of packaging should contain minimum percentages of recycled content depending on the type of packaging, with specific targets set for 2030 and 2040.
By the end of 2025, the Commission should assess the possibility of proposing sustainability targets and criteria for bio-based plastics, an essential resource for making the plastics economy less dependent on fossil fuels.
Less reuse, more refill by consumers. MEPs draw a distinction between reusable and reused packaging in order to clarify the applicable requirements. In their view, reusable packaging should meet a number of criteria, including a minimum number of times it can be reused - criteria to be defined at a later stage.
Exemptions from the reuse obligation would be provided for the alcoholic beverages industry.
As an alternative to reuse requirements, the ENVI Committee wants to see final distributors of drinks and takeaway food in the HORECA sector allow consumers to bring their own containers.
PFASs under fire. MEPs have voted to ban the use of PFAS (per- and polyfluorinated alkyl substances), those eternal chemical pollutants, and bisphenol A intentionally added to packaging in contact with foodstuffs, and for Frédérique Ries, this is “a great victory”.
“We want to reduce packaging, but alternative solutions must be viable. The EPP Group wants companies to be more innovative and consumers to be better rewarded when it comes to reducing waste”, commented Italian MEP Massimiliano Salini, shadow rapporteur for his group.
NGOs disappointed, but relieved. The NGOs of the European Environmental Bureau (EEB) said they were relieved that the future regulation had “survived another attempt to cripple its waste prevention and reuse provisions”, while regretting that the compromise was “weaker than the original proposal as a result of unprecedented levels of lobbying from the biggest polluters in the single-use packaging industry”.
The European brewing industry is unhappy. The European brewing sector, for its part, denounced the lack of fair competition rules, denouncing that “the PPWR grants certain alcoholic beverage sectors total, and arbitrary exemptions from reuse targets and mandatory deposit return systems”. Europe’s brewers have said they are counting on the European Parliament to put things right, when it takes its turn to vote at the end of November.
To see the compromise amendments: https://aeur.eu/f/97x (Original version in French by Aminata Niang)