The European Commission has presented its legislative proposal on packaging and packaging waste, PPWR. The aim is to put an end to wasteful packaging and boost its reuse and recycling.
“PPWR proposal is very ambitious. We propose some improvements to safeguard that relevant environmental performance is achieved”, says Kai-Yee Thim, Director of products at the Swedish Forest Industries.
Packaging is essential part in in the daily life, protecting products, conveying information, reducing wastage and thereby contributing to sustainability and circularity. However, it is important to incentivise products made from renewable resources and facilitate shifting from today’s linear fossil-based economy.
The proposed regulation, together with other EU policies, will be one of the Commissions’ tools to enhance development towards a circular economy. Swedish Forest Industries proposes some additional improvements:
- Acknowledge the renewable materials’ contribution to climate neutrality
- Recyclability and re-use of packaging are complementary solutions
- Packaging bans and restrictions on specific packaging need thorough assessment
- Mandatory recycled content for plastic packaging should be applied to packaging that has plastics as predominant material
- The design for recycling guideline should be drawn up by European Committee for Standardization (CEN)
Read Swedish Forest Industries Federations’ position on the framework for Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR) here.
