In its Packaging Industry Manifesto for the 2024-2029 political term, EUROPEN calls for the “swift” implementation of improved regulation; a strengthened Single Market to underpin competitiveness and decarbonization; and regulation that will protect and empower professionals and consumers alike.
In the manifesto, EUROPEN highlights existing efforts among the packaging industry to drive “innovative, recyclable and reusable designs” and adopt “cutting-edge” digital technologies, but calls upon the EU to make wider systemic changes to invest in collection, sorting, recycling, and reuse infrastructure across Europe.
“We are dedicated to driving sustainability, innovating and enhancing the competitiveness of the packaging industry,” says secretary general Francesca Stevens. “We now need greater policy coherence, effective enforcement of legislation, and enabling framework conditions to keep the decarbonization and sustainability goals on track.
“This is key to ensuring that the efforts and investments our industry has already undertaken to achieve net-zero and sustainable solutions do not dissipate.”
To do so, the manifesto makes recommendations for incoming policies affecting the packaging industry and lays out three priorities, which EUROPEN is willing to collaborate with policymakers to achieve.
Better regulation, swift implementation
“The European packaging value chain is committed to supporting the EU sustainability and circular economy goals,” the manifesto declares. “We now look forward to a timely implementation of the legislation adopted under the EU Green Deal and Circular Economy Action Plan, while ensuring coherence with upcoming files and the creation of enabling frameworks to meet those goals.”
It goes on to urge the European Commission and national regulators to implement the PPWR “swiftly” to avoid disrupting value chains that rely on packaging to commercialize their products. The text should “establish a regulatory framework that provides clarity for industry and supports sustainable growth without imposing unworkable constraints,” EUROPEN says.
An Expert Working Group is recommended to consult stakeholders, with EUROPEN offering its own services as a full partner.
Furthermore, EU legislators are warned to avoid overlap between the PPWR and the Waste Framework Directive (WFD), the Green Claims Directive (GCD), REACH, and the Food Contact Materials legislation, among others. In doing so, they are set to rectify the “fragmented and inconsistent” approaches of previous regulations and ensure legal certainty for economic operators.
Data-driven impact assessments should shape developing regulation, EUROPEN argues. Policymakers should recognize the importance of packaging when it comes to sustainability, consumer safety, and product protection, which includes keeping food fresh and edible.
Labelling policies should also be consistent, harmonized, and non-discriminatory, according to the manifesto. They should guide consumers through both informed product choices and responsible disposal in order to increase collection rates.
So far, all 27 Member States have missed legally binding collection and recycling targets laid out in the WFD, Packaging and Packaging Waste Directive (PPWD), and more. If these shortcomings are not addressed, EUROPEN fears that requirements to achieve recyclability at scale, as laid out in the PPWR, could also fail.
“Substantial” investments in collection, sorting, recycling, and reuse infrastructure are required, the manifesto argues. To drive the collection and processing of all packaging materials, targeted support must be provided by the EU via extended producer responsibility (EPR) schemes; the WFD’s earmarking principle could also bolster investments.
Reportedly, the PPWR’s recycled content targets depend on the preservation of the Single Market for secondary raw materials based on harmonized end-of-waste criteria, alongside legal recognition and full deployment for all recycling technologies. The manifesto calls for this to be reflected in a new Circular Economy Act, as per the Political Guidelines for the new legislative mandate.
EUROPEN holds the EU similarly responsible for establishing the necessary conditions to upscale reuse pilots into large-scale distribution systems. Decarbonization and sustainability goals should be kept on track to avoid wasting the packaging industry’s “efforts and investments” into net zero and sustainability-minded developments thus far.
Strengthen the Single Market
EUROPEN cites reports by Enrico Letta and Mario Draghi in its assertion that the competitiveness of European businesses hinges on a robust European market. It argues that the continent’s “leading position” in global markets can only be upheld if it transitions into climate neutrality, “with decarbonization and competitiveness going hand in hand”.
EU policymakers must keep attracting investment into R&D and innovation to create the necessary conditions to scale up and secure industrial leadership, EUROPEN says – adding that an industrial strategy for technologies and value chains should foster competitiveness, innovation, and sustainability.
“This strategy must develop a coherent vision that enhances skills and prioritizes a regulatory framework with science-based policies and thorough impact assessments, providing businesses with the stability they need for long-term planning,” the manifesto continues. “Significant investment in new technologies, infrastructure, R&D and innovation is indispensable for achieving a resilient and sustainable economy and packaging industry.”
Apparently, efficient EPR schemes and legal recognition for technologies like chemical recycling should support targeted investments in sorting and recycling infrastructure to drive circularity for packaging materials.
To ensure that European businesses and consumers have access to packaged goods and packaging materials, including secondary raw materials, EUROPEN calls for the Single Market’s integrity to be preserved. It feels that enforcement on a national level has been “uneven”, leading to a patchwork of nation-specific packaging requirements that have hindered international trade, as well as circularity at scale.
Single Market principles must be upheld across all EU policies and legislation in the upcoming legislative mandate, the manifesto argues; it underlines the importance of coherent policymaking, harmonization, and the inclusion of sanctions for infringements of internal market rules.
EUROPEN believes that all Member States should be held to the “timely and uniform adoption” of EU laws, and that “bureaucratic hurdles” should be avoided to keep the Single Market efficient and accessible. Digital solutions are recommended as a means of streamlining trade and operations across borders, while also strengthening mechanisms and securing compliance from both Member States and third countries selling packaged products on the EU market.
Social cohesion, skills, and consumer protection
Towards the top of EUROPEN’s agenda is a thorough assessment of green policies’ social impact. Corresponding solutions should avoid detrimental effects on low-income households amidst ongoing inflation and cost-of-living crises, but they should keep their sights set on a full transition into decarbonization.
Moreover, if the necessary packaging isn’t available, the food, pharmaceutical, hygiene, personal care, and other essential sectors could be compromised, while product distribution and availability could be impacted throughout the EU. Incoming legislative measures and policies should take care not to hinder essential packaging functions in the name of achieving sustainability.
Last but not least, EUROPEN supports a strategic partnership with technical universities and the private sector to develop vocational schools and dedicated training programmes; this is hoped to help train young talent, reskill and upskill the workforce, and secure the future of the packaging industry.
In similar news, EUROPEN was one of over 100 associations to advocate for the preservation of the Single Market late last year. This effort is hoped to avoid supply chain disruptions and keep packaging materials and solutions moving freely as the PPWR comes into force.
Other manifestos have also come to light this year. European Bioplastics’ Policy Manifesto calls for the EU to establish harmonized regulatory framework, introduce market incentives, and drive consumer awareness of bioplastics’ environmental benefits; while Flexible Packaging Europe encouraged a relaunch of Europe’s competitiveness to prevent the risk of de-industrialization.
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