The packaging sector is the biggest contributor to plastic waste, generating around 17.8 million tonnes in Europe in 2018, accounting for about 60% of post-consumer plastic waste. A mix of drivers are thought to have contributed to the overall increase including growing per capita consumption, a shift from reusable towards single-use and disposable packaging, growing online sales as well as the sometimes still ‘excessive’ quantities of packaging for goods (over-packaging).

The Commission is currently assessing options to review the Packaging and Packaging Waste Directive. Article 9 of the Directive, inserted by the 2018 revision of the Directive, calls upon the Commission to carry out a revision the essential requirements for packaging with a view to, among others, improving design for reuse and promoting high quality recycling, as well as strengthening their enforcement.

This review will contribute to reaching the objective of the European Green Deal and the new Circular Economy Action Plan (CEAP) to ensure that “all packaging on the EU market is reusable or recyclable in an economically viable way by 2030”. It will also contribute to the objective of European Strategy for Plastics, in which the Commission committed itself to ensure that by 2030 all plastics packaging placed on the market can be reused or recycled in a cost-effective manner”.

As a first step in this process, a Study on the Effectiveness of the essential requirements for packaging and packaging waste and proposals for their reinforcement was carried out and completed in early 2020.

In line with the Commitments taken in the new CEAP, in addition to the revision of the essential requirements for packaging, the Commission is also assessing possible measures to reduce the (over)packaging and packaging waste, promote the uptake of recycled content in packaging, and set minimum mandatory green public procurement criteria and targets for packaging.

The Inception Impact Assessment was published on 11 June 2020 on the Commission’s website with a feedback period lasting until 6 August. A study in support of this review process was launched in February 2020. The study included a wide stakeholder consultation in line with the Consultation Strategy, including a public consultation, which started in the summer 2020 and ends in January 2021. In addition, a series of targeted stakeholder workshops/ webinars focusing on specific issues are taking place.

The impact assessment led to the conclusion that a combination of options will bring the following benefits:

• Administrative burden reduction in particular for small establishments or undertakings, simplification and better implementation including by keeping targets ‘fit for purpose’;

• Job creation. More than 170.000 direct jobs could be created by 2035, most of them impossible to delocalize outside the EU;

• GHG emission reduction. More than 600 millions of tons of green house gas could be avoided before 2035;

• Positive effects on the competitiveness of the EU waste management and recycling sectors as well as on the EU manufacturing sector (better extended producer responsibility schemes, reduced risks associated with raw material access);

• Reinjection into the EU economy of secondary raw materials which in turn will reduce the dependency of the EU on raw materials imports.

For information on how B2EU Consulting could support your organisation in developing a funding strategy and in unlocking different financing tools for your operation in the green sector, please don’t hesitate to contact us at: info@b2eu-consulting.com.