Retailers and wholesalers support harmonising EU rules for packaging and a true Single Market for waste

Responding to the draft revised Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation published today, EuroCommerce Director General Christel Delberghe commented:

“Our sector wants a directly applicable Regulation with clearly defined harmonised rules at the EU level, because only so can we protect our environment through better waste management and recycling and ensure that Europe achieves the objectives of the Green Deal and the new Circular Economy Action Plan. We are therefore pleased to see that the Commission has proposed a Regulation on waste and packaging waste to replace the existing Directive and call on the legislators to keep this level of harmonisation.”

Retailers and wholesalers support the efforts to reduce the complexity of packaging materials and to (re)design packaging to allow for better recycling. For the products under our control, the sector has already started to actively change and review the packaging used and the composition of these products.

This proposal is urgently needed to update the main rules all packaging placed on the EU market needs to fulfil, including recyclable packaging, recycled content in packaging and waste reduction. We are keen to work with the Commission under the regulation to reach the objective of all packaging being recyclable or reusable by 2030, and many of our businesses aim to reach this goal earlier. But to get there we believe that a number of other steps will be important, including:

• Ensuring a high level of harmonisation on issues like sorting instructions which is key to safeguarding the free movement of goods in the Single Market while ensuring the availability of more sustainable packaging
• Investment in and upscaling of public and private waste sorting and recycling infrastructure to ensure that recycled material is available in sufficient quantities at an affordable price
• An EU one-stop-shop for Extended Producer Responsibility to make it easier for businesses to handle waste and use it as secondary raw material
• Uniform enforcement and interpretation of the legislation by the Member States to harness the full potential of the Single Market
• Accelerating development and approval of recycling technologies to use more recycled content in food packaging, while ensuring the safety of the packaged food
• Ensuring that the new rules are consistent with the draft Eco-design for Sustainable Products Regulation and the upcoming proposal to revise the Waste Framework Directive