Packaging manufacturers and the recycling industry have warned of big challenges ahead before the EU can achieve its planned targets to rein in packaging waste.
By 2030, all packaging placed on the EU market must be designed for recyclability, according to the European Commission’s packaging and packaging waste regulation (PPWR), presented in November.
- “And we as packaging producers take full ownership of that obligation, and we really stand behind that,” said Marzia Scopelliti, public affairs manager at EUROPEN, the European Organisation for Packaging and the Environment at a Brussels conference on Thursday (30 March).
- At the same time, under the proposed regulation, all packaging must be recycled at scale by 2035. And achieving this target will be “quite challenging”, Scopelliti said.
- The fundamental issue hindering recycling is cost: producing plastics from virgin raw materials is currently cheaper than from recycled products. Recycled plastics also often contain impurities and are not available in sufficient volumes to tip the market in their favour.
Source: Auractiv.dom
