On 30 November, the European Commission adopted its proposal for a Regulation on packaging and packaging waste (PPWR) with the aim of putting an end to wasteful packaging and boosting reuse and recycling of packaging. The Commission emphasizes the important role of packaging, while proposing objectives to reduce the amount of packaging waste, and to assure that all packaging is recyclable or reusable.
– The regulation will be of great importance in driving and contributing to the EU's circular economy, which is of decisive importance for the green transition. We appreciate that the proposal is recognizing the contribution of the fiberbased packaging, says Kai-Yee Thim, Director of products and product safety at the Swedish Forest Industries.
Targets for reuse need to be more concrete
However, the Swedish Forest Industries wishes to underline that reuse and reuse targets should be focused on the markets where the circular performance needs to be improved.
– The targets should be based on a sound scientific evaluation of the life cycle effects of packaging and the packaged product, taken into account the differentiation of packaging materials, says Kai-Yee Thim, who also sees the need for evaluation of the safety consequences and technical feasibility.
Delegated acts
The proposal contains a move to a framework regulation, where details are to be defined later via delegated acts.
– The development of having a legislation complemented with secondary legislation setting the crucial details seems to be a vouge. In the upcoming development of delegated acts, we would therefore like to see that industry is broadly represented in this work, concludes Kai-Yee Thim, Swedish Forest Industries.
As this is an extensive legislative proposal, further analysis will be needed.
Read more: https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/ip_22_7155
