EU’s packaging rules revamp: towards a more sustainable future?

Reducing packaging waste is part of the Green Deal’s agenda to reach Europe’s climate neutrality goal. Brussels is working on revamping the bloc’s sustainable packaging rules – so called “PPWD” – expected in July, sparking worry from both industry and NGOs. The two fear the Commission will replicate some of the problems that cropped up in the Single-Use Plastics Directive. The revised packaging rules are meant to improve packaging design to promote reuse and recycling and increase recycled content in packaging.

The industry is concerned that the new rules could be too broad while green campaigners worry they will be too narrow. Some stakeholders have been vocal against mandatory reuse requirements and recycled content targets and called on the Commission to ensure a level playing field. There are also deep divisions between industry and NGOs over new technologies like chemical recycling and bio-based or biodegradable materials, which aim to get rid of fossil fuel plastics.

Questions to be addressed include: ...