According to Euwid, the IK is once again in favour of uniform, material-neutral and enforceable packaging rules in the EU Packaging Regulation.

IThe IK Industrievereinigung Kunststoffverpackungen has formulated its demands for the design of the European Packaging Regulation (PPWR) in a new key issues paper, according to a report by the specialised service. According to the EU Commission's timetable, negotiations on the PPWR are to be concluded on 4 March in order to enable the law to be passed before the European elections. With regard to the sometimes highly controversial regulations, in particular on reusable quotas and packaging bans, the IK calls in its key issues paper for the hurdles to be overcome to ensure the success of the negotiations, reports Euwid. The association also is siad to criticise the fact that many compromises that have already been reached were not compatible with the objectives of the regulation. According to the industry association, there is not much left of the original idea of creating standardised EU-wide packaging rules for the internal market after numerous amendments proposed by the Council and Parliament. Many compromises tended to further fragment the internal market. According to the IK, national packaging regulations would hinder the free movement of goods in the EU and investments in the circular economy. Parliament and the Council have also proposed a large number of special regulations for plastic packaging or exemptions for packaging made from other materials, which the IK believes are arbitrary and would lead to users switching away from regulated plastic packaging in favour of unregulated single-use packaging made from other materials. Furthermore, the impact assessment for the PPWR is incomplete with regard to some of the proposed measures, the association criticises. A comprehensive impact assessment should be carried out before a final decision is made on reusable quotas and bans, says the IK.
 
In principle, the IK advocates standardised, material-neutral and enforceable packaging regulations throughout the EU in the key issues paper and recommends working towards the following goals in the negotiations:
 
1. a return to standardised EU-wide packaging rules in order to counteract the progressive fragmentation of the internal market through national packaging regulations.
2. deletion of the ecologically disadvantageous material-specific special rules and exemptions for bans, reduction targets, requirements for recyclability and the use of recyclates as well as for reuse in order to avoid ecologically disadvantageous avoidance behaviour away from regulated plastic packaging towards non-regulated single-use packaging made of other materials.
3. carry out an impact assessment before deciding on reusable quotas and bans in order to prevent an ecologically negative steering effect towards packaging with a larger ecological footprint.
4. define "large-scale" recycling on the basis of recycling capacity in order to prevent discrimination against plastic packaging and indirect packaging bans.
5. enable a pooling system to achieve recyclate use quotas to prevent indirect packaging bans and supply chain bottlenecks due to a lack of recyclate
6. ensure enforceability and limit the bureaucratic burden in order to prevent the gap between regulation and reality from widening and to give small and medium-sized enterprises a chance to participate in the circular economy for packaging.
 
Sources:

• euwid-recycling.de (28.2.2024)
• Photo: Fotolia