European industry organizations have serious doubts about the latest draft revision of the EU Packaging and Packaging Waste Directive (PPWD). Several associations representing the paper and beverage industries have criticized the European Commission's recently proposed plan. The Italian Assobiplastiche Association has also criticized the new EU packaging directive.
The European Commission will present its proposal to amend the EU Packaging and Packaging Waste Directive in the form of a regulation (read the article) at the end of November, but the proposal does not meet the requirements of Assobiplastiche, the Italian association for bioplastic and compostable materials, which refuses to introduce "arbitrary and non-scientific options that penalize new supply chains and technological and environmental innovations.
According to the association, the draft proposal circulating online violates some basic principles, such as proportionality and technology neutrality. A note reads, "There are substantive issues, such as the penalization of some packaging materials compared to others, but there are also methodological issues in the European decision-making process, as the impact of the regulation on businesses, economic and social structures and citizens is so great in the absence of a solid link to a clear and transparent scientific assessment."
Assobiplastiche therefore calls for a complete rethinking of the text, "which puts packaging materials on the same plane without penalizing those new supply chains that also benefit from the EU's own contribution, invested more in the context of technological and environmental innovation".
The Bioplastic Coffee Pod Committee's proposal devotes an entire article to biodegradable and compostable packaging. Some products, such as tea bags, coffee pods, stickers on fruits and vegetables, and ultralight plastic bags, must be compostable within two years of the effective date of the Regulation. Member states can also authorize the use of lightweight compostable plastic bags if collection programs and organic waste treatment infrastructure are in place.
However, for all other packaging, compostable polymers will no longer be available 24 months after the effective date of the regulation. The Commission may also expand the list of packaging that must be compostable in the future.
Below, we have published the text of Article 8 on compostable packaging, as shown in the draft circulating online.
Article 8 - Compostable packaging
1. In order to be considered compostable packaging, the packaging shall be capable of physical, chemical, thermal or biological decomposition so that the majority of the finished compost eventually decomposes into carbon dioxide, biomass and water in accordance with Article 64(4) and does not interfere with the separate collection and composting process or the activities it introduces.
2. Within 24 months of the effective date of this regulation, tea bags disposed of with used coffee products, filter coffee pods, sticky labels attached to fruits and vegetables, and very light plastic bags should be compostable in a bio-waste treatment facility under industrial control conditions.
3. If there is an appropriate waste collection program and waste treatment infrastructure in place to ensure that such packaging enters the organic waste management process, there is a right to require that lightweight plastic bags be offered for the first time on their market only if it can be demonstrated that they are made entirely of compostable plastic polymers.
4. For 24 months after the effective date of this regulation, no compostable plastic polymers may be used to manufacture packaging, except for those listed in paragraphs 2 and 3.
5. Compliance with the requirements of paragraphs 1, 2 and 3 should be shown in the technical information about the package.
6. If technical and regulatory developments affect the disposal of compostable plastics and under the conditions specified in Annex III, the Commission is authorized to amend the list of items in paragraphs 2 and 3 by means of an enabling act under Article 74.
7. No later than May 31, 2026, the European Commission should request the European Organization for Standardization to update the harmonized standard on packaging requirements for recycling through composting and biodegradation - test protocol and assessment criteria. This standard should take into account composting times, permissible levels of visual contamination and other requirements to reflect the actual conditions of bio-waste treatment facilities, including anaerobic digestion processes, in line with scientific and technological developments.
