EUROPEN calls for strengthened protection of the internal market in waste proposals

Ahead of the European Union Environment ministerial debate 26 February 2016 on the Circular Economy Package and its waste proposals, EUROPEN, the European Organisation for Packaging and the Environment, says it is calling on EU policymakers to ensure that national packaging waste-related measures do not disrupt the internal market because of differences in interpretation and implementation. 

“The Packaging and Packaging Waste Directive (PPWD) provides for the economies of scale for private investment and innovation towards a resource-efficient circular economy,” EUROPEN Chairman Martin Reynolds says. “However, the ambition of a competitive circular economy would be undermined if the internal market does not function properly. National measures that may be permitted under the Waste Framework Directive (WFD) might lead to trade barriers and fragmentation of the internal market for packaging and packaged goods. Therefore, the protection of the internal market should be strengthened by replicating the WFD’s EPR legal framework in the PPWD, which has the internal market as its legal base.”

Virginia Janssens, managing director of EUROPEN, adds: “A strengthened legal framework for EPR (extended producer responsibility) as proposed in the WFD should also be introduced into the PPWD. This would help member states to achieve current and future packaging recycling targets and separate collection obligations. Clear, relevant and proportionate EPR minimum requirements for packaging waste, in addition to safeguarding the internal market, would cater for our specific waste stream’s stakeholders, challenges and solutions. Ultimately, secondary raw material markets would be improved. Defined roles and responsibilities for each and all actors are also paramount for well-functioning national packaging waste management and should be set at member state level.”

EUROPEN says it also is urging EU policymakers to clarify the proposed harmonised method for calculating the combined ‘preparing for reuse’ / recycling targets in the context of packaging. In particular, the definitions and variables of the methodology in the PPWD should be clarified to ensure that reported data are “robust and comparable.” The organization adds, “Urgent clarification also will avoid 28 different national interpretations and hence implementation of this proposed formula, which would hamper the internal market rather than achieve the harmonisation intended by the Commission.”

EUROPEN’s position paper on the legislative proposals for the WFD and PPWD can be downloaded at www.europen-packaging.eu/issue-papers.html.

EUROPEN’s top-line policy recommendations to maximise the benefits of a circular economy in Europe can be downloaded at www.europen-packaging.eu/component/news/news/102-europens-policy-recommendations-to-maximise-the-benefits-of-a-circular-economy-in-europe.html.

EUROPEN is an EU industry association based in Brussels that presents the opinion of the packaging supply chain in Europe. Its members include multinational corporate companies spanning the packaging value chain (raw material producers, converters and brand owners), plus national packaging organizations.