Today the European Parliament voted on the final deal of the Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR), which was stripped of its most meaningful provisions to tackle the growing amount of paper packaging waste.
The paper packaging industry lobbied ruthlessly and managed to eliminate the ban on throw-away paper packaging, including grouped packaging (such as those used for beverages), restaurant dining packaging (burger wrap and throw-away boxes), and packaging for fruits and vegetables.
As a result, bans on plastic packaging will not pave the way for reusable packaging, which is the only thing that can reduce waste. On the contrary, they will promote the shift from throw-away plastic to throw-away paper packaging. The same will happen with shoppers, where disposable plastic bags will be replaced by disposable paper bags.
Furthermore, rules on reuse do not apply to cardboard packaging in the transportation sector despite representing 70% of all packaging in this sector. A further number of derogations and loopholes were introduced.
On a positive note, the regulation bans the ‘forever chemicals’ PFAs (per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances), toxic additives commonly used in paper packaging to resist grease. It also sets mandatory Deposit-Return Schemes (DRS) for plastic bottles and cans and harmonizes packaging labels across the EU.
Fair enough, the regulation sets important waste reduction targets (5% in 2030, 10% in 2035 and 15% in 2040), but without the measures needed to meet them, they will remain a dead letter.
There is hope, however. The regulation also allows Member States to go beyond and set higher targets or additional bans. This means that if national governments truly are committed to reducing packaging waste (and not just substituting plastic for paper waste) and protecting our forests, they should include paper packaging in the banned packaging formats and on the reuse targets of the transportation sector. Only by including paper packaging in their measures will European countries be effectively capable of complying with the packaging waste reduction targets set by PPWR. So the question comes down to: are governments truly committed to reducing waste and protecting our forests?