The Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety adopted the report by Simona BONAFÈ (S&D, IT) on the proposal for a directive of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Directive 94/62/EC on packaging and packaging waste.
The committee recommended that the European Parliament’s position adopted at first reading following the ordinary legislative procedure should amend the Commission proposal as follows:
Objective: Members stressed the importance of the Directive for the transition to a circular economy. They also stressed the need to avoid toxic substances at the design stage to allow products and materials to circulate in a closed loop without endangering the quality of materials and the health of citizens, workers and the environment.
Prevention: Member States shall take measures to minimise the environmental impact of packaging. Such measures shall include extended producer responsibility and incentives for the take-up of re-usable packaging in order to reduce the excessive use of packaging.
Furthermore, waste prevention efforts should not compromise the role of packaging in preserving hygiene or safety for consumers.
Member States should put in place adequate incentives for the application of the waste hierarchy, in particular, by means of financial and fiscal incentives aimed at achieving the packaging waste prevention and recycling objectives of this Directive.
Promoting re-use: Members proposed: (i) a target for re-use of packaging of a minimum of 5% by weight of all packaging waste no later than 31 December 2030; (ii) no later than 31 December 2030, a minimum of 10% by weight of all packaging waste is re-used.
In order to encourage re-use operations, Member States may take measures such as the use of deposit return schemes for re-usable packaging products or the setting up of a minimum percentage of re-useable packaging placed on the market every year per packaging stream.
Generation and recycling: no later than 31 December 2030, a minimum of 80% by weight of all packaging waste generated will be recycled. For packaging materials, such as paper and cardboard, plastic, glass, metal and wood, Members proposed to raise the minimum recycling targets with a target to be reached by 2025 for each material.
No later than 31 December 2030, the following minimum targets by weight for recycling will be 80% of wood; 90% of ferrous metal, aluminium and of glass.
Members proposed introducing a clear legal obligation to mandate separate collection and sorting for all packaging. Member States shall take the necessary measures to put in place the separate collection of at least packaging or packaging waste made up of paper, metal, plastic or glass, or any combination thereof, from residual waste.
Member States shall encourage the use of materials obtained from recycled packaging waste for the production of packaging and other products.
Essential requirements: in order to boost the prevention of packaging waste and reduce its impact on the environment while promoting recycling materials of high quality, Members stated that the essential requirements of and Annex II to this Directive should be reviewed, and if necessary revised, to strengthen the requirements that will enhance the design for re-use and high quality recycling of packaging.
Lastly, the impact of the Directive on human health, the environment and the internal market shall be regularly evaluated to ensure that the essential elements of the Directive are fit for purpose.