New EU packaging law misses vital collection aspect, industry warns

The lack of waste collection targets in the EU’s new packaging law risks hampering the ability to increase recycling rates and could even see packaging banned in some places if countries fail to properly collect it, the beverage carton industry has warned.

The European Commission tabled a revamped packaging law on 30 November, with new targets to promote reusable containers like glass bottles and objectives to have a minimum of recycled content in the manufacturing of new products.

But the proposal is “clearly missing” mandatory separate collection targets for drinks packaging, similar to the one introduced for plastic bottles made from PET under the single use plastics directive, said Annick Carpentier from the Alliance for Beverage Cartons and the Environment, an industry group.

“We feel that the proposal does not set up the necessary enabling conditions to ensure that all packaging is collected at a sufficiently high rate by 2035 when packaging will need to be collected and recycled at scale at the risk of being banned,” she told EURACTIV.

While the burden falls on the industry to make their packaging recyclable, it is up to EU member states to arrange waste collection schemes so that the materials reach recycling facilities.

“In essence, if member states do not deliver on collection, packaging may be banned from the market, which is why we call for a mandatory collection target of 90% by 2030,” Carpentier warned.

Recycling of packaging waste: the collection conundrum

The EU has a goal to increase packaging waste recycling, but reaching it will depend on whether local authorities increase and improve collection.

Recycling at scale

The beverage carton industry’s concerns are also shared by EUROPEN, an association which represents the whole packaging value chain.

The European Commission’s proposed Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR) “introduces some important elements” such as measures to improve packaging design to enable recyclability at scale, said Francesca Stevens, the secretary-general of the group.

“However, it fails to strengthen separate waste collection obligations for member states for household packaging,” she added.

“As the upcoming revision of the Waste Framework Directive is no longer expected to address collection, sorting and recycling obligations, it is essential that the PPWR deals with this priority to ensure packaging is effectively recycled,” she told EURACTIV.

The concept of recycling at scale was originally defined in an early draft of the packaging regulation as 75% of EU population having access to recycling facilities. But the definition was removed from the final text of the PPWR and replaced by a commitment to address the issue in further legislation to be tabled by the European Commission.

If the 75% figure resurfaces later on, “that could be something scary for manufacturers of multi-material packaging like stand up pouches and beverage cartons,” said Clarissa Morawski from the Reloop coalition of circular economy NGOs and businesses.

The collection and recycling of beverage cartons has increased since 1995, with an average of 51% of those recycled in 2019 across the EU. However, recycling facilities are not yet in place across all 27 EU countries.

Meanwhile, other drinks packaging get different treatment in the EU’s legislation. For instance, EU countries will be obliged to set up deposit return schemes for plastic bottles and metal cans if they cannot prove they can reach 90% collection via other means.

There are some provisions to improve collection in the ongoing revision of the 2018 waste framework directive, Morawski said, citing an obligation on industries to boost financing for so-called extended producer responsibility schemes.

“But again, for materials that are not automatically highly recyclable, it’s certainly a tricky time. They need to start thinking about investments, not only in the more progressive countries like Germany and Sweden but also in some of the less advanced ones,” she said.

Expert: EU needs a 90% collection target for beverage cartons to boost recycling

The European Commission should introduce a collection target for beverage cartons to ensure they are properly collected and sorted and boost recycling in the sector, according to Dragos Popa.

Recycled content

The drinks packaging industry is also concerned about the proposed recycled content targets for plastics used in food packaging and whether there will be enough material available at an economically viable price to meet them.

“There is no availability at the moment at scale of such recycled plastic for contact-sensitive materials or food contact material,” warned Carpentier.

“It’s nice to set targets but then there must be some kind of reality check,” she said.

There is currently a provision in the legislation that says the European Commission can apply a derogation for certain materials in case there is no available recycled content. Carpentier wants to ensure this provision is maintained as the bill goes to the European Parliament and EU member states for approval.

Another issue of concern is the downcycling of food-grade plastics into other products like textiles, which makes the material unsuitable for use in food packaging again.

For soft drinks industry association UNESDA, this is an issue that needs to be urgently addressed. According to the group, the PPWR proposal “currently fails to include a priority access mechanism or right of first refusal that grants fairer access to the necessary amount of recycled content to those sectors that are required to use food-grade materials to comply with EU food safety requirements”.

While there are no technological barriers to using recycled PET in food contact materials, which is already done at scale, using other kinds of plastics will be challenging for this type of application, says EuRIC, the European recycling industry association.

According to EuRIC, recycled content targets will play a key role in ensuring investments along the value chain to overcome these barriers.

Environmental groups are also watching this closely, saying consumer safety cannot be compromised in the name of recycling.

“For non-PET contact materials, it’s now a question because this recycling does not really exist yet or it is not really scaled up for many reasons, including the original packaging not being recyclable and the technology not existing at scale,” said Dorota Napierska from Zero Waste Europe.

But she added that, “Without those targets, there is a good chance the industry will never really move to design safe and recyclable packaging and just carry on with business as usual.”

The European Commission did not provide a comment by the time of publication.

Commission likely to push for recycled PET in food packaging despite concerns

The European Commission will soon decide whether to allow the use of recycled plastics in food packaging despite some suggesting this could endanger consumer health.

[Edited by Frédéric Simon]

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