European Economic and Social Committee’s Opinions on Making Packaging a Safe, Affordable and Eco-friendly Industry

As per the Official Journal of the European Union on August 26, 2022, the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) put forward well-rounded opinions (hereinafter the Opinions) on the packaging industry. According to Eurostat, the EU has the world's second-largest packaging industry. Disclosed by the Opinions, in 2019, the European Commission announced the European Green Deal (hereinafter the Deal), aiming at reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The Deal also sets important goals to advance the sustainability of the packaging industry, including ensuring that all packaging in the EU market is reusable or recyclable in an economically viable manner by 2030. In 2020, the EU adopts the new circular economy action plan, which is recognized as one of the critical parts of the Deal. This new action plan announces initiatives along the entire life cycle of products, involving product design, the encouragement of consuming sustainable products, etc. Presently, the Commission is assessing options to review the Packaging and Packaging Waste Directive to reach the objectives of the Deal and the circular economy action plan.

In this context, EESC raised some opinions on making packaging a safe, affordable and eco-friendly industry. For example, EESC recommends that

The EU Commission and the national governments, in consultation with all stakeholders of the packaging industry, should take initiatives along the entire life cycle of products (production, consumption and waste-treatment) to promote circular economy processes and encourage sustainable consumption;
Representative organizations of industry and workers, governments, public bodies and non-governmental organizations should find innovative solutions to increase the sustainability of the packaging industry, such as the innovation in plastics recycling;
“Fit-for-purpose” packaging can be introduced as a new measure for all packaging, meaning that all packaging must fit the product with minimum void space and weight;
A holistic approach to assessing the overall role and impact of packaging is encouraged instead of looking at packaging alone. For example, it is essential to take into account both sustainability and functionality of packaging;
Future EU packaging legislation strongly promotes public policy and behavior aimed at improving packaging waste sorting, collection and disposal. EESC also recommends the evaluation of Deposit Return Scheme initiatives (DRS) as a possible way to increase packaging recycling activities in some specific sectors;
The implementation of harmonized criteria for packaging recycling rules and collection schemes in the Member States, including Extended Producers Responsibility (EPR) fee modulation, and ultimately for labeling of recyclable packaging.