The packaging industry is concerned about the EU's ban on single-use plastic products
The European Packaging and Environment group (EUROPEN) welcomed the European Parliament's blanket ban on single-use plastics, but expressed concern about certain elements deemed to have "not been sufficiently scrutinised".
On 24 October, MEPs voted overwhelmingly in favour of a directive under which items such as single-use plastic plates, straws and cotton swabs will be banned by 2021.
Under the directive presented by the European Commission at the end of May, further recycling measures will be introduced in the region to ensure that 90% of plastic bottles are recycled by 2025.
On 24 October, MEPs voted overwhelmingly in favour of the ban
The European Commission welcomed coordinated action to tackle plastic waste, but it regretted the removal of safeguards for the supply of single-use plastic products to the internal market, including packaged items.
"This will weaken the policy coherence of other EU rules on waste and packaging," EUROPEN said in a statement on Oct 24.
According to previous EUROPEN statements, the directive does not reflect the principle of "better regulation" and offers different legal interpretations at EU and national level.
For example, the Packaging and Packaging Waste Directive (PPWD) uses 114 articles on the "internal market" as its legal basis to protect the free circulation of packaged products in the EU. However, the legal basis for the Anti-Subsidy Act is Article 192 on environmental protection.
EUROPEN managing director Virginia Janssens said: "PPWD and its coordination. Basic requirements ’ Shall remain the only applicable legislation applicable to the design and marking requirements of all packaging."
" Similarly, "she added," the Waste Framework Directive should remain the only legal text addressing the extended responsibility of producers, in line with the nationally defined roles and responsibilities of participants. Incentives should be put in place for all value chain partners according to the extent that each participant can control to ensure cost-effective outcomes. This should be no different from measures to clean up garbage."
According to European Commission President Hans van Bochove, the lack of legal clarity will undermine years of significant investment in the packaging supply chain and waste collection and sorting.
" Legal clarity is essential to support these investments, but it is lacking in this case, for example, which packaging falls within the scope of single-use plastic products and which does not. In addition, design requirements with significant impact, such as restricted proposals, should be based on established facts and thorough impact assessments." "He noted.
EUROPEN called on EU lawmakers to "take the time to carefully assess the practical impact of the proposed legislation on single-use plastic products in order to ensure that it achieves the intended environmental objectives in a harmonized EU internal market."