The EU has reached a provisional agreement for regulation on packaging and packaging waste, setting new binding re-use targets for 2030 and indicative targets for 2040.

The aim is to tackle the increase in packaging waste generated in the EU, while harmonising the internal market for packaging and boosting the circular economy.

The proposal considers the full life-cycle of packaging. It establishes requirements to ensure that packaging is safe and sustainable, by requiring that all packaging is recyclable and that the presence of substances of concern is minimised. It also lays down labelling harmonisation requirements to improve consumer information. In line with the waste hierarchy, the proposal aims to significantly reduce the generation of packaging waste by setting binding re-use targets, restricting certain types of single-use packaging and requiring economic operators to minimise the packaging used.

It strengthens the requirements for substances in packaging by introducing a restriction on the placing on the market of food contact packaging containing per- and polyfluorinated alkyl substances (PFASs) above certain thresholds. To avoid any overlap with other pieces of legislation, the co-legislators tasked the Commission with assessing the need to amend that restriction within four years of the date of application of the regulation.

The provisional agreement maintains the 2030 and 2040 headline targets for minimum recycled content in plastic packaging. The co-legislators agreed to exempt compostable plastic packaging and packaging whose plastic component represents less than 5 per cent of the packaging’s total weight from those targets. The Commission will have to review the implementation of the 2030 targets and assess the feasibility of the 2040 targets. The agreement also calls on the Commission to assess, three years following the entry into force of the regulation, the state of technological development of bio-based plastic packaging and, on the basis of that assessment, to lay down sustainability requirements for bio-based content in plastic packaging.

The new rules would reduce unnecessary packaging by setting a maximum empty space ratio of 50 per cent in grouped, transport and e-commerce packaging, and requiring manufacturers and importers to ensure that the weight and volume of packaging are minimised, except for protected packaging designs (provided that this protection was already in force by the date of entry into force of the regulation).

Under the new rules, by 2029, member states must ensure the separate collection of at least 90 per cent per annum of single-use plastic bottles and metal beverage containers. To achieve that target, they are required to set up deposit return systems (DRSs) for those packaging formats.

The provisional agreement will now be submitted to the member states’ representatives for endorsement.

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