Circular Economy package II, adopted 30 November 2022
date: 24/01/2023
The Commission also brings clarity to consumers and industry on biobased, compostable and biodegradable plastics: setting out for which applications such plastics are truly environmentally beneficial and how they should be designed, disposed of and recycled.
Preventing packaging waste, boosting reuse and refill, and making all packaging recyclable by 2030
Goods need packaging to be protected and safely transported, but packaging and packaging waste have a significant impact on the environment and use of virgin materials. The amount of packaging waste is growing, frequently at a faster pace than GDP. Packaging waste increased by more than 20% over the last 10 years in the EU, and is forecast to soar by another 19% until 2030, if no action is taken.
The proposed revision of the EU legislation on Packaging and Packaging Waste has three main objectives. First, to prevent the generation of packaging waste: reduce it in quantity, restrict unnecessary packaging and promote reusable and refillable packaging solutions. Second, to boost high quality (‘closed loop') recycling: make all packaging on the EU market recyclable in an economically viable way by 2030. And finally, to reduce the need for primary natural resources and create a well-functioning market for secondary raw materials, increasing the use of recycled plastics in packaging through mandatory targets.
Clearing up confusion around biobased, biodegradable and compostable plastics
The use and production of biobased, biodegradable and compostable plastics have been steadily increasing. A number of conditions must be met for these plastics to have positive environmental impacts, rather than exacerbating plastic pollution, climate change and biodiversity loss.
The Commission's new framework clarifies in what way these plastics can be part of a sustainable future.
Biomass used to produce biobased plastics must be sustainably sourced, with no harm to the environment and respecting the ‘cascading use of biomass’ principle: producers should prioritise the use of organic waste and by-products as feedstock. In addition, to fight greenwashing and avoid misleading consumers, producers need to avoid generic claims on plastic products such as ‘bioplastics’ and ‘biobased’. When communicating on biobased content, producers should refer to the exact and measurable share of biobased plastic content in the product (for example: ‘the product contains 50% biobased plastic content’).
Biodegradable plastics must be approached with caution. They have their place in a sustainable future, but they need to be directed to specific applications where their environmental benefits and value for the circular economy are proven. Biodegradable plastics should by no means provide a licence to litter. Also, they must be labelled to show how long they will take to biodegrade, under which circumstances and in which environment. Products that are likely to be littered including those covered by the Single-Use Plastics Directive cannot be claimed to be, or be labelled as, biodegradable.
Industrially compostable plastics should only be used when they have environmental benefits, do not negatively affect the quality of the compost, and when there is a proper biowaste collection and treatment system in place. Industrially compostable packaging will only be allowed for tea bags, filter coffee pods and pads, fruit and vegetable stickers, and very light plastic bags. The products must always specify that they are certified for industrial composting, in line with EU standards.