The European Commission has presented this Wednesday measures to eliminate unnecessary packaging and promote reusable options and promote the use of organic and compostable plasticswith a 15% reduction in waste by 2040.
The new rules, as far as consumers are concerned, will ensure that reusable packaging options are available and eliminate unnecessary ones.
For the industry of the European Union (EU), Brussels is committed to recycling, which must cover all packaging by 2030 and, consequently, less need for virgin materials????????
The community executive also aims to promote the use of bio-based, compostable and biodegradable plastics, establishing for which applications these plastics are truly advantageous in environmental terms and how they should be designed, disposed of and recycled.
The main objective of the proposal – which has to be agreed by the Council of the EU and the European Parliament – is to reduce waste from packaging by 15% by 2040 per Member State per capita compared to 2018, achieved through reuse and recycling.
This would lead, according to the Commission’s accounts, to an overall reduction in waste in the EU of around 37% compared to the situation we will have if the legislation is not changed.
If nothing is done, the EU will see a further 19% increase in packaging waste by 2030 and, in the case of plastic packaging waste, a 46% increase.
On average, each European generates almost 180 kilos of packaging waste per year, being one of the main products that use virgin materials, since 40% of the plastics and 50% of the paper used in the EU are destined for containers.
Source: Observadora
