Environmental NGOs applaud ENVI Committee’s call for ‘transparent and fair’ approach to recycled content in key Single-Use Plastic Directive

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Today, the European Parliament’s Environment, Public Health and Food Safety (ENVI) committee approved a resolution regarding the Commission Implementing Decision (EU) 2023/2683 defining the methodology for accounting for recycled plastic content in single-use plastics. In this resolution, the ENVI committee invites the Commission to adopt a recycled content calculation methodology avoiding creative accounting. The Rethink Plastic alliance supports this decision which introduces safeguards in the definition of recycled content and acknowledges specificity between recycling technologies.   

In particular, the ENVI committee establishes a recycling hierarchy in which chemical recycling effectively only deals with plastic waste that cannot undergo mechanical recycling and ensures consistency with the Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR). 

“With this vote, the ENVI Committee is demanding the Commission step up. This is a call to redefine the pecking order of technologies, ensuring that the recycled plastics hitting our markets are not only safe and transparent but also fair. It’s about sticking to the promises made in the PPWR — no compromises, no shortcuts. 

Lauriane Veillard, Chemical Recycling and Plastic-to-Fuels Policy Officer at Zero Waste Europe

“We cannot trust the results of mass balance accounting. The non-proportional allocation of recycled content is misleading and inconsistent with high-quality recycling. The ENVI Committee is rightfully asking the European Commission to revise its methodology to ensure transparent claims and drive true circularity.”

Mathilde Crêpy, Head of Environmental Transparency at Environmental Coalition on Standards

Following today’s adoption by the ENVI Committee, the resolution will be voted on next week during the last plenary session of the European Parliament’s mandate.

Media Contact: 

  • For Zero Waste Europe:
    Sean Flynn, Media Outreach Officer |  +32 471 96 55 93 | [email protected] 
  • For Rethink Plastic alliance:
    Caroline Will, Communications Coordinator | +32456560705 | [email protected]

About Zero Waste Europe 

Zero Waste Europe (ZWE) is the European network of communities, local leaders, experts, and change agents working towards a better use of resources and the elimination of waste in our society. We advocate for sustainable systems; for the redesign of our relationship with resources; and for a global shift towards environmental justice, accelerating a just transition towards zero waste for the benefit of people and the planet. www.zerowasteeurope.eu 

About Rethink Plastic 

Rethink Plastic is an alliance of leading European NGOs, representing thousands of active groups, supporters and citizens in every EU Member State. We are part of the global Break Free From Plastic movement, consisting of over 11,000 organisations and individuals worldwide demanding an end to plastic pollution. https://rethinkplasticalliance.eu/ 

About Environmental Coalition on Standards

ECOS, Environmental Coalition on Standards, is an international NGO with a network of members and experts advocating for environmentally friendly technical standards, policies and laws. We ensure the environmental voice is heard when they are developed and drive change by providing expertise to policymakers and industry players, leading to the implementation of strong environmental principles.https://ecostandard.org/

Council unanimously endorses revised Waste Shipment regulation – including full non-OECD plastic waste ban

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The Rethink Plastic alliance and Break Free From Plastic welcome the Council’s decision to endorse the revised text negotiated at Trilogue, which includes increased obligations and standards with regards to the shipment of EU plastic waste. 

This includes: 

  • A phased-in 2.5 year ban of all plastic waste exports to non-OECD countries, to complement existing bans on the export of hazardous and Y48 plastic waste
  • Increased obligations and standards both with regards to exporting waste to non-OECD and OECD countries 
  • That intra-EU shipments of waste destined for disposal will only occur under exceptional circumstances 
  • The digitisation of the exchange of information and data on waste shipments

Whilst the Rethink Plastic alliance and Break Free From Plastic movement have always evidenced the need for and advocated for a full ban of EU plastic waste outside the EU and EFTA, amongst other recommendations, the agreed trilogue text does set in motion increased protections and obligations for environmentally-sound management. It is now for the Commission and Member States to take all steps necessary to ensure effective transposition, implementation and enforcement. 

Regrettably, last year’s trilogue negotiations between the EU institutions did not result in a decision to stop exporting its plastic waste to all non-EU/ EFTA countries. For example, Türkiye (an OECD country) receives a significant amount of EU plastic waste – despite clear evidence of this resulting in environmental and human health harm. We strongly encourage that the necessary resources are set aside to ensure obligations are being met by all, and if not met, that the EU suspends exports to relevant recipient OECD countries also.

The EU’s revised Waste Shipment Regulation now forms some of the most ambitious waste exporting rules in the world. The EU must work to amplify this success, by reducing its plastic consumption and ensuring strict adherence to the waste hierarchy in managing its plastic waste.

Expert voices

“The EU has acknowledged the impact that its waste is having on the rest of the world, and through this agreement, has shown that it is taking steps to increase accountability and responsibility as a consequence. Whilst we have evidenced the need for a full EU plastic waste export ban, along with many others, including Parliament and certain Member States, we remain hopeful that the effective enforcement of this newly revised Regulation in turn puts an end to the environmental and human health harm that has been occurring for decades. We also hope this results in other high-income high-plastic waste exporting countries to step up.”

Lauren Weir, Senior Campaigner at the Environmental Investigation Agency

“While this agreement is better than the last Regulation, the possible continuation of exporting plastic waste to OECD member countries seriously risks undermining its effectiveness. Membership to the OECD does not guarantee a country is a safe destination for plastic waste. Moreover, growing evidence shows that this waste is causing serious air, water and soil pollution in OECD member countries, particularly Turkey, and that those importing this waste are exploiting illegal migrant labour, creating a significant human rights issue. Therefore, we fully expect the EU to take all this into account and look into suspending plastic waste shipments to OECD countries where it is clear they cause harm – reflecting the very same reasons behind the non-OECD ban soon to be in place. Otherwise, the EU will continue to be responsible for causing harm.”

Dr. Sedat Gündoğdu, a microplastics researcher at Çukurova University in Türkiye

“For years, Europe has been exporting their waste problems, putting communities and the environment in recipient countries at risk. We welcome the impending ban of all plastic waste exports to non-OECD countries but this should be expanded to all countries. To be effective, the Waste Shipment Regulation must be accompanied by robust, adequately resourced monitoring and enforcement measures in both exporting and importing countries. Loopholes must be plugged, including the export of hidden plastics in other waste streams. While improving domestic recycling infrastructure is a necessary step forward in Europe, it is clear that recycling and disposal is not the answer. We need to get to the root of the problem, that is, the proliferation and production of plastics.”

Mageswari Sangaralingam, Honorary Secretary of Sahabat Alam Malaysia

Media Contact: 

Notes for editors: 

  • More than 180.000 people signed a joint petition from the Rethink Plastic alliance, the Environmental Investigation Agency, the #BreakFreeFromPlastic movement, Eko and WeMove, urging the EU to ban plastic waste exports to both non-OECD and OECD countries. The petition was delivered to EU decision-makers before this last decisive meeting. 
  • The Rethink Plastic alliance’s top 5 recommendations for the revision of the Waste Shipment Regulation can be found here. 
  • Please refer to Rethink Plastic alliance  and EIA’s Truth behind Trash and Plastic Waste Power Play reports for background on the impact of the global plastic waste trade. 

About:

Rethink Plastic is an alliance of leading European NGOs, representing thousands of active groups, supporters and citizens in every EU Member State. We are part of the global Break Free From Plastic movement, consisting of over 11,000 organisations and individuals worldwide demanding an end to plastic pollution.

The Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) investigates and campaigns against environmental crime and abuse. Its undercover investigations expose transnational wildlife crime, with a focus on elephants, pangolins and tigers and forest crimes such as illegal logging and deforestation for cash crops such as palm oil. It works to safeguard global marine ecosystems by addressing the threats posed by plastic pollution, bycatch and commercial exploitation of whales, dolphins and porpoises. Finally, it works to avert climate catastrophe by strengthening and enforcing regional and international agreements that tackle short-lived climate super-pollutants, including ozone-depleting substances, hydrofluorocarbons and methane, and advocating corporate and policy measures to promote transition to a sustainable cooling sector and away from fossil fuels. It uses its findings in hard-hitting reports to campaign for new legislation, improved governance and more effective enforcement. Its field experience is used to provide guidance to enforcement agencies and it forms partnerships with local groups and activists and support their work through hands-on training. 

ENVI Committee takes a positive stance against plastic pellet pollution, but there is still room for improvement

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With mounting studies linking microplastic contamination to human health risks such as stroke, heart attack and more, MEPs had the opportunity to adopt requirements to prevent a significant source of microplastic pollution: plastic pellets. Used to manufacture almost all plastic products, those small particles are in industries’ hands during their entire life cycle – from production to transport, storage, conversion, and recycling. 

As such, MEPs have supported the Commission’s approach to regulating the supply chain with minimum requirements for all carriers and operators, but they went the extra mile by making these binding, stronger and including maritime transport — a move civil society strongly supports in light of massive recent spillage at sea on the Spanish, French and Portuguese coasts. However, a supply chain approach can only be as efficient as its weakest links. In that sense, by choosing to exempt certain companies from audits and certification based on the scale of their operations, MEPs introduced an important loophole in the implementation of the text. 

After the ENVI vote, MEP’s next opportunity to protect the environment and public health from the dangers of pellets will be the Plenary vote in late April, which is the final plenary for this Parliament. If the proposed regulation passes, trilogue negotiations will continue once the new Parliament is electe

“It was high time for the ENVI Committee to address this pollution effectively, as MEPs have seen plastic pellet pollution making headlines, whether from catastrophic offshore spills such as in Galicia, or from chronic inland contamination sites in Ecaussinnes (Belgium) or Tarragona (Spain). Now, we need the plenary position to go further and the Council to make it a priority before the end of the mandate”.

Lucie Padovani (Surfrider Foundation Europe)

“We are relieved that MEPs chose to reinforce the Commission requirements and impose pellet loss prevention rules on the shipping industry. Still, proposed plans and compensations fail to include any remedial measures to restore affected ecosystems following pellet spills. We are tired of seeing plastic pellets flooding marine ecosystems and poisoning wildlife. It’s time to hold those responsible for pellet pollution accountable for the lasting negative impact they’ve made on the environment. We hope this regulation can be both an opportunity to make up for past spills and to beat pellet pollution for future generations”.

Frédérique Mongodin (Seas At Risk)

“Stronger does not mean that it is strong enough. While this is an important first step in mandating measures to achieve pellet loss reduction, gaps in the ENVI’s position create loopholes which make it difficult to achieve our ultimate objective – zero pellet loss. It is perplexing why certain industry players are given a pass when it comes to stringent audits, certification and implementing all necessary preventative, containment and clean-up measures when their actions have historically resulted in environmental degradation that threatens all life. The loopholes undermine the ambition of the regulation and signal a missed opportunity to hold all pellet handlers accountable for their contribution to plastic pellet pollution. We urge for the regulation to be strengthened before its final adoption”.

Amy Youngman (Environmental Investigation Agency)

Notes to the Editor:

Media contacts: 

For Surfrider Foundation Europe
Lionel Cheylus | +33 6 08 10 58 02 | [email protected]

For Seas At Risk
Adenieke Lewis-Gibbs | [email protected] For Environmental Investigation Agency
Amy Youngman | [email protected]

About:

Rethink Plastic is an alliance of leading European NGOs, representing thousands of active groups, supporters and citizens in every EU Member State. We are part of the global Break Free From Plastic movement, consisting of over 11,000 organisations and individuals worldwide demanding an end to plastic pollution. The Rethink Plastic alliance has been working on the packaging file together with an informal alliance of NGOs with expert knowledge and hands-on experience on the entire lifecycle of plastics and paper. The members of this informal coalition are Zero Waste Europe, European Environmental Bureau, ECOS, ClientEarth, Surfrider Foundation Europe, Deutsche Umwelthilfe, Recycling Netwerk Benelux, Fern and the Environmental Paper Network.

EU institutions take an important step to prevent packaging waste and promote reuse, but reckless loopholes for throwaway packaging risk undermining EU efforts

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Despite the unprecedented pressures and negative lobbying, EU institutions finally agreed on a set of rules to prevent the generation of packaging waste, promote reuse systems and reduce our dependence on single-use packaging; according to the press releases by the institutions.
To stop the uncontrolled growth of packaging waste the EU is setting binding packaging reduction targets for its Member States (5% by 2030, 10% by 2035 and 15% by 2040), as well as reuse targets for certain packaging segments, including beverages and transport packaging.

The coalition of NGOs working on EU packaging rules applauds stricter provisions on substances of concern and direct restrictions on a group of harmful and extremely persistent chemicals (PFAS) in food packaging. It is expected that a mandatory future report on the presence of substances of concern in packaging will bring more clarity about the extent to which they negatively affect circularity, as well as chemical safety and impact on human and environmental health.

The coalition however regrets that the initial proposal of the European Commission, published in November 2022, was watered down by a plethora of exemptions and derogations adopted under the pressure of throwaway lobbies. It is especially disappointing that the scope of restrictions for unnecessary packaging are limited only to single-use plastics and not to all single-use formats as foreseen in the original proposal (including single-use paper-based packaging).

It is also regrettable that cardboard packaging is excluded from the reuse targets for transport. These loopholes are the result of unprecedented pressures from single-use paper lobbies and risk undermining the regulation’s effectiveness, leading to an increase in paper packaging consumption, thus perpetuating wasteful practices and putting unsustainable pressure on forests.

“EU institutions have agreed on the urgent need to cut down packaging waste, reduce our dependence on disposable solutions and promote reuse systems. One of the most heavily lobbied files of this term survived the deceptive tactics of throwaway proponents. We will now have binding packaging waste reduction targets charting a clear path for the sector. Despite some regrettable setbacks and unjustified derogations, this compromise now gives the EU and its Member States a chance to stop the packaging waste crisis”

Marco Musso (EEB Senior Policy Officer for Circular Economy at the European Environmental Bureau)

“McDonalds’ and the paper packaging industry managed to distort and empty a regulation born to reduce single-use packaging, which now is promoting it, at the cost of the global forests and climate. Lobbyists are now celebrating, but consumers will continue to be flooded by increasing amounts of waste in their own homes – just this time made from paper.”

Sergio Baffoni (Environmental Paper Network’s Senior Paper Packaging Campaigner)

“This is a step in the right direction, but a much larger leap is needed. The reality is that growing unnecessary packaging and overpackaging is a waste of resources – and recycling alone is just not enough. We need more support for reuse and refill options to use less material and prevent waste”

Valeria Botta (Head of Circular Economy & Nature at Environmental Coalition on Standards – ECOS)

“We know that many of the chemicals commonly used in food packaging (both plastic and non-plastic) are harmful and can contribute to chronic diseases in our society. It is encouraging to witness a political will to ensure better consumer protection and eliminate the whole group of particularly problematic PFAS from food packaging – this action was indeed very urgently needed, and is very welcome by the coalition.”

Dorota Napierska (Toxic-free Circular Economy Policy Officer at Zero Waste Europe)

After 4 years of preparatory work and more than 15 months of negotiations marked by unprecedented levels of lobbying, the three EU institutions must waste no time to adopt this key regulation before the European elections. The European Parliament must ratify the compromise reached yesterday in the April Plenary putting an end to wasteful practices and unlocking the opportunities of genuinely circular packaging. The coalition also urges the European Commission to sign the agreement as soon as possible. 

The coalition of NGOs will continue to advocate for high ambition at EU level and proper implementation of the new rules to stop the uncontrolled growth of packaging waste through prevention and reuse. Numerous decisions on how to implement the measures of the Regulation will need to be taken further down the line and the Rethink Plastic alliance together with the coalition of NGOs will closely monitor this process.

Figures:

  • The total packaging waste generation in the EU increased from 66 million tonnes in 2009 to 84.3 million tonnes in 2021 (27.7% growth) and is forecasted to increase to 92 million tonnes in 2030, and 107 million tonnes in 2040. 
  • Annual packaging waste generation was estimated at about 190 kg per inhabitant in the EU annually. This waste has a significant environmental impact, contributing to 40% of plastic and 50% of paper use, along with carbon emissions equal to Hungary’s yearly emissions. (Source: Eurostat)
  • Packaging is one of the main users of virgin materials (40 % of plastics and 50 % of paper used in the EU is destined for packaging) and accounts for 36 % of municipal solid waste.
  • For more information, read our factsheet on Reusable Takeaway Packaging, our report on Disposable Paper-based Food Packaging. The false solution to the packaging waste crisis.

Media Contacts

  • For Rethink Plastic alliance:
    Caroline Will | +32456560705 | [email protected]
  • ECOS –  Environmental Coalition on Standards
    Alison Grace | +32 493 19 22 59 | [email protected]
  • EEB – European Environmental Bureau
    Sarah Abou-Chleih | +32 2 790 43 86 | [email protected]

About:

Rethink Plastic is an alliance of leading European NGOs, representing thousands of active groups, supporters and citizens in every EU Member State.
We are part of the global Break Free From Plastic movement, consisting of over 11,000 organisations and individuals worldwide demanding an end to plastic pollution.
The Rethink Plastic alliance has been working on the packaging file together with an informal alliance of NGOs with expert knowledge and hands-on experience on the entire lifecycle of plastics and paper. The members of this informal coalition are Zero Waste Europe, European Environmental Bureau, ECOS, ClientEarth, Surfrider Foundation Europe, Deutsche Umwelthilfe, Recycling Netwerk Benelux, Fern and the Environmental Paper Network.

Plastic production pellets: In Ecaussinnes, MEPs take a bitter look at chronic pollution 

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Plastic pellets, the plastic particles that are used to manufacture larger plastics, are a threat to the environment and public health. It is estimated that as many as 184,290 tonnes of pellets are lost in Europe1 every year. In January, north-west Spain made headlines as millions of plastic pellets flooded the coast of Galicia after a cargo ship lost a container of pellets in the Atlantic. Yet, pellet pollution is not only a coastal issue. Chronic pellet pollution also occurs on land, particularly in Europe, where large quantities of pellets are manufactured. The chemicals contained in plastics can be toxic to human and animal health.

To put an end to this pollution, the European Commission presented a legislative text aimed at regulating it in October 2023 and introducing minimum requirements for all pellet handling companies.

It was against this backdrop that, on 22 February, The Pew Charitable Trusts and Surfrider Foundation with the support of Rethink Plastic Alliance and Seas At Risk, both members of the Rethink Plastic alliance, invited MEPs to witness chronic pellet pollution firsthand around Feluy, the industrial zone home to petrochemical operations in the Ecaussinnes municipality, near Brussels.

MEP Saskia Bricmont, in particular, answered the call as well as MEP Caroline Roose’s team, MEP Peter Hansen and Ska Keller ones. Accompanied by the NGOs, they were able to meet Arnaud Guérard, alderman for the environment of Ecaussinnes, who explained:

“I’ve been following this pollution since 2020, after some citizens from Ecaussinnes complained about the discovery of pellets in their fields and in the Sennette river, 8kms away from the zoning” But according to him, “it seems like the pollution existed since the beginning, considering that Total Petrochemical began its exploitation in the middle of the 70s.” He explains : “this pollution is permanent and widespread.”

Saskia Bricmont, Member of the European Parliament, Group of the Greens

The MEPs discovered that the cultivated fields, the roads, the area around the complex and the Sennette river are completely overrun with these microplastics. After showing a first site in the zoning, Arnaud Guérard adds : 

“Our first action was to alert firms about the pollution. The second one involved revising the authorizations granted by the town and Wallonian authorities to enhance preventive measures. However, at each stage, the companies challenged the proposed improvements to regulations.”

Arnaud Guérard, Alderman for the environment of Ecaussinnes

Indeed, even though the contaminated area is adjacent to the plastic pellet production site, it is important to remember that pellets are currently lost throughout the value chain, during production, transport, processing and storage, due to the lack of preventative measures. In addition to the loss of containers at sea, mishandling spills, road accidents and staff negligence combined with the washing of soil by rain and wind collectively contribute to the introduction of plastic pellets into the ocean.

“It is estimated that as many as 184,290 tonnes of plastic pellets are lost to the environment each year in the EU alone. That’s the equivalent of more than five kilograms being spilled every second. Once they are released, because of their tiny size, pellets are almost impossible to recover. However, unlike other sources of microplastics, pellet loss is preventable with appropriate policies in effect. We need urgent and binding action at an EU level as well as industry compliance to tackle the third-largest source of microplastic pollution in the EU,”

Natacha Tullis, officer, Preventing Ocean Plastics project at The Pew Charitable Trusts.
Pellet pollution in the industrial zone home to petrochemical operations in the Ecaussinnes municipality

Regarding the need for a dedicated regulation, MEP Saskia Bricmont declares :

“It’s better to have a framework than no framework at all, but that’s the first step. The second is that the text is not ambitious enough, but that it needs to be seen as a whole; the directive on environmental crime also punishes this type of pollution: it enables local justice systems to take criminal action. There’s also work in progress on the directive on due diligence of companies and their subcontractors: it’s clear here that the problem concerns both a “parent” company, Total Petrochemicals, and the subcontractors it works with for logistics and transport: it’s the whole value chain that will have to comply with due diligence. All this legislation will have to work together.”

Saskia Bricmont, Member of the European Parliament, Group of the Greens

“Voluntary initiatives by companies are not enough. The companies concerned say : ‘Let us do our job, we have a social responsibility which means we have to be careful’. We have to admit that the pollution is there, that it persists, that there is no systematic cleaning, that there is no vigilance to ensure that the containers are watertight, that when the microplastic beads are transported by truck, they are not spilled. Solutions do exist, and these companies need to implement and finance them,” According to her, “It’s not a very visible problem, but we know that the oceans are polluted, but it’s not easy for people to make the connection: a microplastic bead that comes out of the Feluy zoning area can end up in the North Sea. The current problem remains the impunity of companies, who must prevent pollution and repair it if there is a problem” she concludes.

Saskia Bricmont, Member of the European Parliament, Group of the Greens

Civil society agrees that there is a real and urgent need for Parliament’s ENVI Committee to adopt this regulation.

“Two years after our first visit to Ecaussinnes, we can see that industries cannot be trusted to self-regulate and prevent plastic pellet pollution. The stakes are too high, and the consequences too dire to delay action any longer. The Regulation proposal demonstrates that this problem is not addressed properly by the plastic pellet value chain. Ambitious and harmonised EU regulation is needed. The text now has to be improved, especially by setting binding measures for all the firms involved in the pellet value chain, regardless of their size. In addition, addressing the loss of containers at sea is crucial, as the current legislation on maritime transport is really silent concerning this topic.”

Lucie Padovani, policy officer for Surfrider Foundation.

We remain at the journalist’s disposal for any other information.

Find photos of the visit here

Link to the EU Procedure FIle

About The Pew Charitable Trusts

Founded in 1948, The Pew Charitable Trusts uses data to make a difference. Pew addresses the challenges of a changing world by illuminating issues, creating common ground, and advancing ambitious projects that lead to tangible progress. For more information, please visit https://www.pewtrusts.org

About Surfrider Foundation Europe

The NGO Surfrider Foundation is a group of positive activists who take concrete action on the ground every day to pass on a preserved ocean to future generations. Our mission: to make the voice of the ocean heard loud and clear! Our weapons? Raising awareness and mobilizing citizens, children and adults alike (thanks to 48 volunteer branches throughout Europe), using our scientific expertise to lobby and transform companies. Find out more about the association at https://surfrider.eu/en or via this video

About Rethink Plastic Alliance

Rethink Plastic is an alliance of leading European NGOs, with thousands of active groups, supporters and citizens in every EU Member State. We bring together policy and technical expertise from a variety of relevant fields, and work with European policy-makers to design and deliver policy solutions for a future that is free from plastic pollution. We are part of the global Break Free From Plastic movement, made up of 11,000 organsations and individual supporters from across the world who are demanding massive reductions in single-use plastics and to push for lasting solutions to the plastic pollution crisis.

About Seas At Risk

Seas At Risk is an association of environmental organisations from across Europe, working together to ensure that life in our seas and oceans is abundant, diverse, climate resilient, and not threatened by human activities. Its mission is to promote ambitious policies for marine protection at European and international level. With over 30 members representing the majority of European countries, Seas At Risk speaks for millions of citizens that care deeply about the health and well-being of seas and oceans.

Contacts

Surfrider Foundation Europe’s “Break the Plastic Wave” campaign is supported by the LIFE programme created by the European Commission. The European Commission’s support for the production of this publication does not constitute an endorsement of the content, which reflects the views only of the authors, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.

Big tobacco poisons (long-due) extended producer responsibility obligations across Europe, new report reveals 

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Download full report

The extended producer responsibility obligations introduced by the SUP Directive are important provisions that are applauded by the Rethink Plastic alliance and Surfrider Foundation Europe. For the first time across almost a continent, the tobacco industry will have to pay for (some of) the pollution costs it generates because of putting polluting single-use plastic items on the market at the expense of the environment. The adoption of these provisions also made more concrete the application of the polluter-pay principle, that despite being a cornerstone of the EU environmental policy, continues to be very poorly applied at EU level.

The new report by the Rethink Plastic alliance, led by Surfrider Foundation Europe, released today, aims to provide an update on the implementation status of the EPR measures on tobacco products exactly one year after they were due. It also identifies shortcomings in the way the measure was first laid down in the Directive and transposed at national level, as well as in the way the EPR schemes were set, and explores potential ways forward through a concrete set of recommendations.

Among the many flaws and risks the new report reveals, are the following:

Little to no initiative nor increased ambition in the way the EU provisions were transposed and adapted

In most cases, Member States have transposed the Directive by copying and pasting the wording of the EU text without further specification or details, opting for a rather basic implementation of the Directive requirements and making many of the measures introduced de facto non-operational. Only a few countries have introduced further precisions or provisions which increase the potential of the Directive and its likely impacts. This is for example the case with which have set reduction targets. Other countries are also showing political leadership with calls for EU-wide bans on SUP filters and disposable e-cigarettes.

Significant delays in the implementation

Many Member States are late in implementing the EPR provisions laid down in the SUP Directive such as the Czech Republic, Cyprus, Estonia, Germany, Poland or Slovakia.

A partial consideration of the costs incurred

Very little initiative has been taken by Member States to incorporate other costs than the ones listed in the EU text. Unfortunately, the EU list does not incorporate all the costs tobacco induced nor reflects the environmental harms caused by the tobacco industry. These costs were a minimum list of costs that should be covered by operators, meaning other costs could be accounted for in the extended producer responsibility schemes to be implemented at national level. They appear very low in view of the huge revenue cigarette sales generate. This is even more striking when litter clean-up costs are examined. And it is unfortunate some Member States have used the delay experienced by the European Commission in releasing its guidelines for criteria on the cost of cleaning up litter, off the record to justify their own delay or low ambition in specifying further how they will calculate these costs.

No recognition of the specificities of the tobacco industry

Tobacco products and tobacco players are not like any other products and any other producers. Extra attention is needed from decision-makers to adapt the ‘usual’ EPR obligations to this specific sector and make sure the schemes set at national level comply with international rules We believe national authorities must set EPR systems that exclude the producers of tobacco products with filters and filters and any tobacco sector player from the governance of the EPR scheme and from any decision or any activity conducted on behalf of the scheme, in compliance with international rules on tobacco control.

Awareness campaigns driven by the tobacco industry

Along this line, the report reveals confusion at best or arrangements made with the EU text at worst, in the EPR schemes set at national level between the financial responsibility and operational responsibility as regard awareness-raising. On the one hand, the SUPD lists awareness-raising costs among the costs to be covered by tobacco producers as part of the EPR schemes to be set. On the other hand, the SUPD stipulates that Member States shall take measures to inform consumers and to incentivise responsible consumer behaviour, in order to achieve a reduction in the littering of products covered by this Directive, including tobacco products with plastic filters and plastic filters. In practice, in many Member States, the responsibility for designing and launching campaigns was given to the Producer Responsibility Organisations. This presents the significant risk for the tobacco industry to portray itself as a corporate socially responsible actor despite clear international rules on the matter.

Making the most of the current EU text with opportunities ahead

The report calls Member States to make the most of what the current SUPD offers so that the tobacco industry pays and is finally held accountable for the products they put on the market and for the harms they cause to the planet and Humans alike.

It also identifies the review of the SUPD, expected by 2027 and the ongoing international negotiations as complementary opportunities to tackle the plastic pollution that tobacco products generate, with more ambition and impacts.

We remain at the disposal of journalists for any information or interview requests.

About Surfrider Foundation Europe

The NGO Surfrider Foundation is a group of positive activists who take concrete action on the ground every day to pass on a preserved ocean to future generations. Our mission: to make the voice of the ocean heard loud and clear! Our weapons? Raising awareness and mobilizing citizens, children and adults alike (thanks to 48 volunteer branches throughout Europe), using our scientific expertise to lobby and transform companies. Find out more about the association at https://surfrider.eu/en or via this video

About Rethink Plastic Alliance

Rethink Plastic is an alliance of leading European NGOs, with thousands of active groups, supporters and citizens in every EU Member State. We bring together policy and technical expertise from a variety of relevant fields, and work with European policy-makers to design and deliver policy solutions for a future that is free from plastic pollution. We are part of the global Break Free From Plastic movement, made up of 11,000 organizations and individual supporters from across the world who are demanding massive reductions in single-use plastics and to push for lasting solutions to the plastic pollution crisis.

About Break Free From Plastic

BreakFreeFromPlastic is the global movement working to achieve a future free from plastic pollution. More than 12,000 organizations and individuals around the world have come together to demand reductions in single-use plastics and to advocate for lasting solutions to the plastic pollution crisis. BFFP members work together to bring about systemic change by tackling plastic pollution across the whole value chain – from extraction to disposal – focusing on prevention rather than cure. Find out more on https://www.breakfreefromplastic.org/

Contacts

Surfrider Foundation Europe’s “Break the plastic wave” campaign is supported by the LIFE program of the European Commission. The European Commission’s support to produce this publication does not constitute an endorsement of the content, which reflects the views only of the authors, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.

Council position sparks hope for packaging law, NGOs call on institutions for stronger commitment to prevention and reuse in trilogues

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The agreement reached today comes  more than a year after the Commission’s proposal. Critically, the Council retained all measures to restrict unnecessary packaging, such as those used for fruit and vegetables as well as single use packaging in restaurants, as well as sectoral reuse targets for 2030 and 2040. 

Although the Council introduced more flexibility for reuse targets than foreseen in the Commission’s proposal, and problematic derogations for cardboard, the scale of targets and the sectors covered were for the most part preserved. This is a stark contrast to the European Parliament’s position, agreed in a plenary vote in November, which deleted many measures and introduced broad derogations with weak justifications.  

NGOs have been vocal in denouncing the level of aggressive and misleading lobbying which MEPs faced, largely led by the fast food and paper-based packaging manufacturers which led to an unacceptable dilution of the waste prevention measures in the European Parliament’s final position. An attempt led by Italy and Finland – home to some of Europe’s biggest fast-food packaging producers – to mirror the Parliament’s proposals was in the end not supported in Council. NGOs had warned that their proposals risked up to an additional 7.3 million tonnes in waste each year (ref). 

“Faced with unprecedented lobbying, untransparent studies and misleading pseudo-science it is encouraging to see that Member States reached an agreement on the Packaging Regulation today. Credit goes to the Spanish Presidency for navigating through conflicting national interests and striking a compromise which retains some ambition on reuse and prevention. The baton is now passed to Belgium who must finalise the trilogues for this important file for the environment and Europe’s circular economy.”

Marco Musso, Senior Policy Officer for Circular Economy at EEB

“The Council’s support for paper packaging exemptions unfortunately undermines the regulation’s aim to reduce packaging waste. Instead, it will just increase cardboard packaging, adding to the already 3 billion trees cut down every year for packaging alone! True ambition would not include this exemption. Forests are not packaging factories.”

Sergio Baffoni, Senior Paper Packaging Campaigner at the Environmental Paper Network

Regrettably, as part of the compromise, the Council removed the reuse targets for wine, reintroduced the exemptions for cardboard and limited the restrictions on unnecessary packaging for fruits and vegetables only to plastics packaging.Beyond reuse and prevention the agreement also addressed other aspects of the proposal. The ambition of measures to ensure that all packaging will be recyclable by 2030 was also reduced with a new definition of recyclability grades.  The Council also offered a very unambitious exemption to establishing DRS systems for single-use plastic bottles and cans if a collection rate of 78% is achieved by 2026. The Council was also more cautious than the Parliament when it came to addressing dangerous chemicals in packaging – agreeing only to prepare a report on the issue by 2026. 

Only Italy voted against the overall agreement which was adopted with a qualified majority. Since the start of the negotiations Italy has opposed waste prevention and reuse, blindly siding with national throw-away industrial interests and ignoring scientific evidence on the environmental impact of packaging waste. 

The interinstitutional negotiations (trilogues) on the Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation will begin in the new year. An agreement between the three institutions will have to be found within a limited number of meetings because of the European elections in Spring 2024. Earlier the Belgian Government had committed to finalise the file during its presidency citing its importance for the circular economy.  

Media contacts: 
  • Sarah Abou-Chleih, Communications Officer at the European Environmental Bureau +32 2 790 43 86 [email protected] 
  • Marco Musso, Senior Policy Officer for Circular Economy at the European Environmental Bureau +32 2 289 13 07 [email protected] 
  • Mateus Carvalho, Coordinator and Campaigner of Environmental Paper Network [email protected]
 Notes for editors: 
About:

Rethink Plastic is an alliance of leading European NGOs, representing thousands of active groups, supporters and citizens in every EU Member State.

We are part of the global Break Free From Plastic movement, consisting of over 11,000 organisations and individuals worldwide demanding an end to plastic pollution.

The Rethink Plastic alliance has been working on the packaging file together with an informal alliance of NGOs with expert knowledge and hands-on experience on the entire lifecycle of plastics and paper. The members of this informal coalition are Zero Waste Europe, European Environmental Bureau, ECOS, ClientEarth, Deutsche Umwelthilfe, Recycling Netwerk Benelux, Fern and the Environmental Paper Network.

Parliament trashes EU hopes to reduce packaging waste, siding with throwaway industry

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Brussels, 22 November 2023

For immediate distribution

Today, the European Parliament voted on the Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation proposal issued by the European Commission in November 2022. The proposal sought to reduce record levels of packaging waste in Europe. Intimidated by unprecedented lobbying, parliament voted to delete almost all provisions to tackle unnecessary packaging, as well as most of  the reuse targets for 2040. Some reuse targets (e.g. for beverages) were lowered but retained, and accompanied by broad derogations, making the reuse targets virtually ineffective and sending a massively negative signal to the nascent reuse sector and circular economy frontrunners.

These choices directly give into false claims, scaremongering, and intense lobbying from the most wasteful industries, decimating any ambition necessary to prevent waste. After the Environment committee, the lead parliamentary committee on this file, already watered down the ambition of the proposal in October, the Plenary today dealt the final blow to provisions needed to deal with the packaging waste crisis. 

While support for measures to make all packaging recyclable will help to boost stagnant recycling levels in the Union, they will do nothing to reduce record levels of waste generation. 

The fast-food lobby and single use packaging industries will be celebrating the hypocrisy of the EU, which claims to be a global leader on the implementation of a circular economy. Notably MEPs deleted provisions which would limit the use of single use packaging when dining in the largest restaurants as well as wrapping fruit and vegetables where it is not necessary to protect them. 

A tiny glimmer of consolation are the overarching waste prevention targets secured for Member States (to reduce total levels of packaging waste by 5% by 2030 and 15% by 2040) to set a direction of travel for the packaging industry. Additionally, a long overdue ban on the use of  PFAS- and BPA – highly toxic and persistent substances – in food packaging was added by Parliament. 

Now the Member States in Council must adopt an ambitious mandate on reuse and packaging waste prevention in order to redress the course of this important policy. The regulation is expected to enter trilogues in the beginning of 2024 with only a limited amount of time to adopt the text before the European elections. 

Faced with record levels of waste, MEPs chose to side with throw-away packaging producers and fast food giants. Deleting provisions which would simultaneously reduce waste, scale up reuse and create new economic opportunities for Europe – they served the interest of polluters today. While the EU claims to be leading the way towards a circular economy, its lawmakers did not even have the courage to stop fruit being unnecessarily wrapped in plastic or to promote the use of plates in restaurants

Marco Musso, Senior Policy Officer for Circular Economy at the European Environmental Bureau

The outcome goes beyond outrageous: all meaningful restrictions were removed. The very few that remain will actually increase paper packaging, as they are only aimed at curtailing plastic. This spells disaster for forests not only in Europe but all over the world. We already cut down 3 billion trees for packaging alone. Thanks to the European Parliament, the grotesque paper packaging demand will continue to grow. It’s utterly unsustainable.

Sergio Baffoni, Senior Paper Packaging Campaigner at the Environmental Paper Network
Notes for editors: 
About:

Rethink Plastic is an alliance of leading European NGOs, representing thousands of active groups, supporters and citizens in every EU Member State.

We are part of the global Break Free From Plastic movement, consisting of over 11,000 organisations and individuals worldwide demanding an end to plastic pollution.

The Rethink Plastic alliance has been working on the packaging file together with an informal alliance of NGOs with expert knowledge and hands-on experience on the entire lifecycle of plastics and paper. The members of this informal coalition are Zero Waste Europe, European Environmental Bureau, ECOS, ClientEarth, Deutsche Umwelthilfe, Recycling Netwerk Benelux, Fern and the Environmental Paper Network.

In Strasbourg, environmental NGOs join at the European Parliament, packaging in hand

Written by

On Tuesday 21 November, members of various environmental NGOs1 join next to Strasbourg’s European parliament building with packaging waste in hand to urge them not to give in to the siren calls of industry lobbying as they vote this week on the European Regulation on packaging and packaging waste.

After an initial vote in the European Parliament’s ENVI Committee – the lead committee on this file – at the end of October, a plenary vote is scheduled on 22 November at 12:00. Following the EP plenary vote, member states need to agree on the Council position under the Spanish presidency before trialogue negotiations are supposed to start in early 2024. EU officials aim to adopt the legislation during this Commission mandate still.

Crucial regulation to reduce packaging

This text represents a major opportunity for the transition of packaging systems and distribution models, at a time when it is crucial to drastically reduce greenhouse gas emissions, pollution and the use of resources in all sectors. The European Commission’s intention was for 100% of all packaging to be recyclable or reusable by 2030, with the definition of criteria for recycling on a large scale, the elimination of unnecessary packaging and over-packaging, and targets for reusable packaging broken down by sector.

When adopted, this regulation will apply directly to the entire European Union.

If it is less ambitious than the French law, then there is a very real risk that the progress achieved through the AGEC law will be called into question. This is why it is essential to be very ambitious and to allow countries that have already made progress to go beyond the targets set, in particular, by formulating targets that are minimum targets.

Powerful industrial lobbies helped weaken the EP position

The stakes are high: The packaging, paper-cardboard and fast-food industry lobbies are waging an intense campaign to water down the text, revise its objectives downwards and obtain exemptions.

Following the examination of the text by the European Parliament’s ENVI Committee, several measures have been weakened:

● The targets for the reuse of beverages and transport packaging are maintained, but with sometimes watered-down wording, deadlines and the possibility of exemption on the basis of “access to infrastructure” or “peer-reviewed studies”, etc.

● The wine and takeaway reuse targets have unfortunately been dropped.

● The provisions of Article 7 remain worrying: Zero Waste France, Surfrider Foundation Europe, and their European partners oppose the use of bio-based plastic to meet the recycled content target for plastic packaging, as well as the use of a credit-based system for plastic.

A few improvements

Other important measures have been retained or added:

● Prevention of unnecessary packaging and packaging formats, with restrictions on single-use food and drink packaging for on-site catering in the hotel and restaurant sector, as well as on certain packaging formats offering individual portions (single-dose condiments for catering, hygiene and care products in hotels);

● Chemicals in products, with a ban on the intentional addition of PFAS and Bisphenol A to packaging within 18 months of the regulation coming into force;

● “Free” tap water: a provision has been added to ensure that Member States allow customers to request free or low-cost tap water in restaurants, canteens, bars, cafés, etc.

This week’s vote: a key milestone

Given the way the vote in the ENVI committee went (with amendments to delete the text tabled but fortunately not adopted), the vote in plenary, scheduled for 22 November, will be a key milestone. The lobbying efforts of industry, which have been intensively deployed over the last few months of negotiations, have reduced the ambition of the text without proposing a credible alternative to tackle the growing problem of packaging waste. The latest Eurostat data revealed: EU citizens created an average of 188kg packaging waste per capita, this is a 10kg increase in just 2 years.

The Parliament’s current position is significantly weaker than the Commission’s proposal and the text under discussion in the Council, particularly as regards reduction and reuse. Ahead of the vote, many MEPs tabled amendments to further water down provisions on unnecessary packaging and reuse . The risk is the adoption of new derogations from the re-use targets for the drinks sector for example, dragging down re-use in Europe. It is essential that the Parliament maintains as much ambition as possible to ensure that the packaging wastre crisis can be contained.
 

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1 List of NGOs present: The European coalition Rethink Plastic Alliance represented by Surfrider Foundation Europe, Zero Waste Europe, Zero Waste France, European Environmental Bureau and the Envrionmental Paper Network.

The French NGO On est prêt also joined the event.

A propos de Rethink Plastic Alliance

Rethink Plastic is an alliance of leading European NGOs, with thousands of active groups, supporters and citizens in every EU Member State.

We bring together policy and technical expertise from a variety of relevant fields, and work with European policy-makers to design and deliver policy solutions for a future that is free from plastic pollution.

We are part of the global Break Free From Plastic movement, made up of 11,000 organizations and individual supporters from across the world who are demanding massive reductions in single-use plastics and to push for lasting solutions to the plastic pollution crisis.

CONTACT:

For Rethink Plastic Alliance

Caroline Will | +49 1590 1425817 | [email protected]

For Surfrider Foundation Europe
Lionel Cheylus | +33 6 08 10 58 02 | [email protected]

For Zero Waste France

Manon Richert | +33 (0)7 52 02 59 70 | [email protected]

For On Est Prêt

Xavière Bourbonnaud | +33 6 67 05 75 79 | [email protected]