EU countries back looser reuse targets to cut packaging waste

The Council of EU member states voted on Monday (18 December) in favour of more exemptions for cardboard and wine bottles from reuse targets to shore up support for the EU’s packaging waste regulation ahead of decisive talks with the European Parliament to finalise the law next year.

Tabled in November 2022, the EU’s new Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR) aims to tackle rising amounts of waste in the EU by introducing new targets for reuse and recycling.

However, the proposed reuse targets were met with resistance from EU member states like Italy and Finland, which said they risked jeopardising recycling systems already in place at national level.

Those reservations were taken on board by Spain, the current holder of the EU’s rotating Council presidency, which introduced new exemptions from reuse targets to secure backing from a broader majority of countries.

“We propose therefore, to delete the reuse target for wine and to reinstate the exemption for cardboard,” announced Teresa Ribera, the Spanish ecological transition minister who was chairing Monday’s ministerial meeting.

Islands with less than 2,000 inhabitants will also be exempted from the reuse and refill targets, an issue that Greece brought up at Monday’s meeting.

And at the request of Germany, a new possibility was introduced for companies to form pools to meet re-use targets on beverages as a group.

In addition, the Commission was requested to review the 2030 targets on reuse and refill and, on that basis, “assess the targets for 2040 and the exemptions laid out in the provision,” the Council said in a statement.

Mixed reactions to reuse

The additional exemptions for wine and cardboard came as a disappointment to environmental campaigners who were already frustrated by the European Parliament’s vote on the legislation in October, which had exempted takeaway restaurants from reuse targets.

“We appreciate the Council’s achievement of a more favourable arrangement for reuse provisions compared to the Parliament, maintaining most of the targets for take-away, beverage, and transport packaging in their general approach,” said Raphaëlle Catté from Zero Waste Europe, a non-profit group.

“However, due to opposition led by Italy and Finland, the Presidency had to grant additional exemptions to reuse provisions,” she added, referring to a non-paper submitted by Rome and Helsinki before Monday’s ministerial meeting.

Countries like Denmark, which were hoping for a more ambitious result on reuse, were also disappointed but said they would support the Council’s compromise proposal in order to move the negotiations forward.

Europe “simply cannot reduce waste by focusing only on recycling,” said Magnus Heunicke, the Danish environment minister.

The Netherlands, for its part, said they were “particularly concerned” with proposals to put recycling on a par with reuse, saying “this is contrary to the waste hierarchy”.

Belgium, meanwhile, disputed the exemption given to wine bottles, saying this was unfair to makers of craft beer. “Craft beer should be protected in the same way that we protect wine,” said the Belgian representative, adding that small and micro-enterprises should also be considered for exemptions from the reuse targets.

Packaging: Reuse or recycling?

The European Commission has launched a far-reaching revision of the EU’s packaging law, which for the first time introduces mandatory reuse targets for packaging such as drinks bottles and e-commerce delivery boxes.

Separate collection target for plastic bottles

Elsewhere, the Council decided to:

• Maintain the Commission’s proposal that all packaging placed on the market must be recyclable by 2030. Packaging will be considered recyclable “when designed for material recycling, and when the waste packaging can be separately collected, sorted and recycled at scale,” the Council said.
• Maintain targets for minimum recycled content in plastic packaging for 2030 and 2040.
• Reduce packaging waste based on 2018 quantities – 5% by 2030, 10% by 2035, and 15% by 2040 – in line with the Commission’s proposal.

By 2029, member states will also have to ensure a separate collection target of at least 90% for plastic bottles and metal beverage containers by introducing a dedicated deposit return scheme (DRS) for these formats.

However, EU countries will be exempted from this provision if they achieve a rate of collection rate above 78% in 2026, a move that was deplored by the soft drinks industry.

“This is not the right approach to boost collection and recycling of beverage packaging,” said UNESDA, which represents the soft drinks industry.

UNESDA were also disappointed that member states did not support closed-loop recycling for plastic bottles. “A priority access right to food-grade recyclates would provide beverage manufacturers with reliable access to recycled materials, enabling them to achieve the EU’s mandatory recycled content targets and their own voluntary commitments,” said Nicholas Hodac, director general of UNESDA.

Belgium aiming for deal by end of February

With the Council’s position now agreed, the way is clear for the Council to enter talks with the European Parliament in order to finalise the regulation next year under the Belgian EU Council Presidency, which starts on 1 January for a six-month period.

Speaking to reporters at the beginning of Monday’s talks, Brussels environment minister Alain Maron said the Belgian presidency’s objective will be to close negotiations with Parliament before the end of February.

[Edited by Alice Taylor]

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