A total of 29 European packaging trade bodies and compliance schemes have called on the European Union to adopt a long-term strategic policy framework for the circular economy.
Organisations including the UK’s Alliance for Beverage Cartons and the Environment (ACE), The Industry Council for Research on Packaging and the Environment (INCPEN) and Valpak have signed the set of joint recommendations that has been submitted to the European Commission.
These 29 organisations want the framework to enable and facilitate sustainable resource use from a full lifecycle perspective, incentivise economies of scale and take into account value chains at all levels, each with their different functional needs and supply and demand realities.
EUROPEN chairman Martin Reynolds said: “In order for the forthcoming EU proposals to benefit the environment as well as European competitiveness, jobs and growth, we need a holistic approach that recognises the positive role role of packaging in optimising resource use, minimising product waste and protecting products all along the many and varied value chains that are concerned.
“We call on the EU to ensure that a full lifecycle approach to packaging and the internal market principle is firmly embedded in future EU measures, as it is today in the Packaging and Packaging Waste Directive, the cornerstone of EU law for our sector.”
The join industry recommendations call on the EU to ensure that the circular economy package:
- Safeguards the free movement of packaging and packaged goods in the EU internal market
- Ensures the full implementation and enforcement of existing EU laws
- Strengthens the EU legal framework for extended producer responsibility for used packaging
- Establishes a solid, comparable and harmonised calculation method for packaging recycling rates
- Sets realistic and achievable packaging recycling targets based on known baselines
- Diverts packaging materials from landfill.
