The European Commission proposes to ban single-use containers for food and drinks consumed in restaurants and cafes, for fruit and vegetables and miniature shampoo bottles offered in hotels
Each European, on average, generates 180 kilos of packaging waste every year. In the last ten years this type of waste has skyrocketed by more than 20% and if measures are not taken it will increase another 19% by 2030, 46% in the case of plastic containers, according to calculations by the European Comission. To stop this trend, Brussels has proposed this Wednesday to adapt the European regulations with the aim of limit overpackaging, drive reuse and refilling and that all containers are recyclable within eight years, by 2030.
“Everyone has experienced ordering something online and having it arrive in a huge box that is either half empty or double layered to make the product appear larger than it is. Or you go to a cafeteria and, instead of being served on normal plates, they give you food in single-use containers, leaving a mountain of waste,” explained the vice-president of the Commission and head of the Green Pact, Frans Timmermanns. A few years ago we limited and banned some of the most polluting single-use plastics: straws, cutlery, glasses, plates, food containers. Today we take the next step & rdquor;has added.
And the next step will be articulated around three objectives. Firstly, to prevent the generation of packaging waste by reducing its amount, restricting unnecessary packaging and promoting reusable and refillable packaging. Secondly, promoting high-quality recycling, making all packaging sold in the EU recyclable in an economically viable way by 2030. And finally, reducing the needs for primary natural resources and creating a market for raw materials working properly, increasing the use of recycled plastics in packaging through mandatory targets.
Reusable and refillable containers
The plan includes quantifiable goals. For example, Brussels starts from the basis that packaging waste will have to be reduced in a 15% from now to 2024, per person and Member State, compared to the figures for 2018. This cut will make it possible to reduce overall waste in the EU by 37% compared to what would happen if the legislation were not modified. To encourage the reuse or refilling of packaging, companies will have to offer consumers a certain percentage of their products in reusable or refillable packaging and clear labeling of reusable packaging.
In the meantime, the single use containers for food and beverages consumed in restaurants and cafesthe single-use packaging for fruit and vegetablesthe miniature bottles of shampoo and other miniature containers that are offered in hotels. The proposal also includes the setting of design criteria for packaging, the creation of mandatory deposit and return systems for plastic bottles and aluminum cans, economic incentives such as charging a fee for single-use packaging, information on the cost of packaging and new clarifications on the very limited types of packaging that must be compostable, so that consumers can deposit them in the containers destined for bio-waste.
Labeled with the composition
Related news
Finally, there will be mandatory recycled content ratios that producers will need to include on new plastic packaging, helping to make recycled plastic a valuable raw material. to clear the confusion of citizens about which container is the right one to deposit each type of container, the packages will have to incorporate a label that will have to indicate its composition and to which waste stream it belongs to. The symbols will have to be the same throughout the EU.
Although the initiative will entail costs for the packaging industries, which will have to invest in this new transition, the global effects, according to Brussels, will be positive both in economic terms and in job creation. According to his estimates, only reuse will generate more than 600,000 jobs by 2030 not counting the boost it can give to innovation. In any case, the initiative will also have positive repercussions in the pocket of citizens. A saving of 47,200 million is expected and if this were transferred to the citizens “every European will be able to save 100 euros each year”, Timmermans has quantified on a proposal that will now have to pass the filter of the European Parliament and the Council. Along with this initiative, the Commission has presented a communication to clarify the framework for bio-based, biodegradable and compostable plastics. “They are increasingly common and are presented as viable alternatives to conventional plastics, but we must be clear about the added value,” said the Dutchman.