The European Commission is developing new rules to reduce the amount of single-use packaging. Unnecessary packaging is prohibited, reuse is mandatory. The focus is on plastic packaging in the vegetable and food sectors.
Packaging currently accounts for 40 percent of all plastic consumption and 50 percent of paper consumption in the EU. If nothing happens, by 2030 consumption will rise by another 19 percent. There is an urgent need for new rules, says the European Commission. These measures should reduce the amount of packaging waste per European by 37 percent.
Among other things, the commission wants to ban unnecessary single-use packaging, such as plastic cups in restaurants, single-use packaging for fruit and vegetables, or miniature shampoo bottles in hotels. The packaging sector itself will also have to start using a mandatory percentage of recycled materials in order for recycled plastic to become a valuable raw material.
Practical implications
European agricultural groups Copa-Cogeca regret this decision and believe that Brussels is ignoring the practical consequences of such a ban, especially for wine, fresh fruit and vegetable producers in an already difficult socio-economic situation.
The proposed ban on single-use packaging for fresh fruits and vegetables weighing less than 1.5kg is disproportionate, regardless of the use of materials, and does not take into account the diversity of products in the industry, Copa-Cogeca said.
Refundable
Reuse with preservation of plastic bottles and jars is highly recommended. Clear labeling should clearly indicate what material has been used and how it can best be sorted. For this purpose, uniform symbols will be used throughout the EU.
The introduction of the tin deposit will not take place in the Netherlands from 1 January as agreed. The State Council has given manufacturers and importers of metal beverage cans a delay until April 1. This is necessary because there are not enough machines yet to be able to take empty cans and wring them out. The agricultural sector called for the speedy introduction of a raid on tin cans.
