The European Parliament’s Committee on Environment approved a finalised version of the Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation on Monday 25 November.
Corrections still had to be made after an initial approval in April 2024 (see EUROPE 13398/24), as part of a ‘corrigendum’ procedure that allows Parliament to adopt texts in an accelerated manner at the end of its term. This is an amendment to Regulation 2019 10/20 on market surveillance and product conformity and Directive 2019 904.
The new rules include packaging reduction targets (5% by 2030, 10% by 2035 and 15% by 2040) and require Member States to reduce plastic packaging waste in particular.
From 2030, 100% of packaging must be designed to be recyclable, or risk being banned from the market. This packaging will have to be recycled EU-wide by 2035.
In addition, the EU will ban certain packaging containing PFAS above certain thresholds when in contact with food. Pizza boxes in particular will be affected.
Certain types of single-use plastic packaging will also be completely banned from 1 January 2030. This will mark the end of ultra-light plastic bags and also the end of single-use plastic packaging in cafés and restaurants for retail sales. Small plastic bottles used by hotels for cosmetic products will also be banned (see EUROPE 13364/8).
The regulation will be adopted 24 hours after the text is announced at the plenary session, if there are no objections. (Original version in French by Florent Servia)