What’s the deal with the Plastic Soup again?
March 15 2024 That’s what readers of news site nu.nl on their comment platform Nujij were wondering. In a recent […]
13 December 2022
Yesterday Executive Vice-President of the European Commission Frans Timmermans presented the EU’s plans to radically reduce the flow of packaging waste. The Plastic Soup Foundation welcomed the emphasis on reuse and the stricter rules announced to prevent plastic waste, but the goal of reducing packaging waste by 15% by 2040 is far from ambitious and could be achieved much earlier.
With all the packaging that we use, we have landed in an untenable situation. Apart from the massive waste of raw materials, it brings enormous damage to the environment. To turn the tide, the European Commission has proposed a new Regulation on Packaging and Packaging Waste. In eight years’ time all packaging must be reusable or recyclable. The European Parliament and the Council of Europe still need to decide on the objectives and measures before the proposal becomes law.
Over the last 10 years, the packaging waste in the European Union has increased by 20%. Of all the plastic that we use, 40% is used for packaging and in the case of paper this is half. Our waste consists of 36% packaging which equates to 177 kilos per European citizen per year. Together this is a huge mountain of waste, of which a part irreversibly ends up in the environment. The European Commission is choosing to reduce the packaging waste by banning some packaging and making others reusable or refillable. All packaging must also be easily recycled.
The packaging industry’s lobby to sweep these goals off the table has failed, but it did succeed in drastically weakening some of the targets.
There are four overriding objectives.
Examples of preventing waste include banning mini bottles of shampoo in hotels and the individual packaging of fruit and vegetables. But why are not all plastic shampoo bottles banned? After all, shampoo bars are a good alternative. The goals for reuse are incredibly low and a mandatory deposit system is only for plastic bottles and cans, while there are also other types of packaging that could be included, such as detergents. Packaging may not be made unnecessarily heavy in the near future, but there are no weight standards.
The Commission is working on recycling, but for materials that come into contact with food – where hygiene and health are important considerations – recyclates are not always usable. The proposal is not clear on how enforcement will be done in practice.
March 15 2024 That’s what readers of news site nu.nl on their comment platform Nujij were wondering. In a recent […]
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The waste-export to countries outside of the EU has been restricted The Netherlands is against a carpet ban on shipping of plastic waste.
The waste-export to countries outside of the EU has been restricted The Netherlands is against a carpet ban on shipping of plastic waste.