The European Parliament adopted its position Wednesday (22 November) on legislation to reduce packaging waste, weakening some key measures on the table following a tense debate on the role of reuse, recycling and bans.
Lawmakers voted to weaken some of the proposed measures, including those on reuse and bans for unnecessary packaging, following political division and intense lobbying.
In the end, the Parliament’s stance on the law was passed with 426 votes in favor, 125 against and 74 abstentions, after “a very difficult vote”, according to Nils Torvalds, a Finnish centrist MEP who is one of the lead lawmakers on the file.
With the Parliament’s position now adopted, negotiations can start with EU member states to finalize the law in so-called trilogue talks also involving the European Commission.
The Parliament’s position includes reducing unnecessary packaging by 5% by 2030, 10% by 2035 and 15% by 2040.
There are also specific measures to reduce plastic packaging, including a ban on very lightweight plastic carrier bags (unless required for hygiene or preventing food waste) and heavy restrictions on single-use formats like miniature hotel toiletries.
Overall, lawmakers want to cut the amount of plastic packaging in Europe by 10% by 2030, 15% by 2035 and 20% by 2040.
However, measures to reduce packaging waste, such as bans on unnecessary packaging and reuse targets, were removed, making environmental organizations question how waste reduction targets will be achieved.
Reuse targets were also watered down, with a new provision allowing EU countries to get out of 2030 reuse targets for a specific packaging type if they have a recycling rate of over 85% for that material.
This drew the ire of NGOs and left-wing lawmakers who criticized the European Parliament’s stance as a missed opportunity to boost reuse and pointed the finger at lawmakers for bowing to pressure from industry.
Meanwhile, centre-right and conservative lawmakers welcomed the Parliament vote as a shift away from the “over-regulation and micro-management” contained in the draft proposal by the European Commission.
Industry groups also welcomed the Parliament’s bigger focus on improving waste collection, which is a precondition to improve recycling.
