48|Retail News|October 2023|www.retailnews.ie
Waste Packaging Directive
Conal Scullion and Rory Campbell from Lewis Silkin’s Belfast office report on the proposed EU laws fighting back against waste packaging and what they mean for Irish retail businesses.
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THE Environmental Protection Agency’s August 2023 news release was stark and foreboding. Ireland generated 1.2 million tonnes of packaging waste in 2021. The target for plastics recycling is 50% by 2025, but Ireland has only achieved 28%. This means that less than a third of the country’s plastic waste is recycled – the bulk of it is incinerated. And Ireland’s overall recycling rate is actually slowing down; against a target of 65% by 2025, the rate fell back from 62% in 2020 to 58% in 2021. Media and environmental campaigners were quick to fix on these alarming figures. “Europe’s worst wasters!” ran the headline, as statistics were published to show that, per head, the Irish binned 62kg of plastic against an EU average of 32kg. Retail businesses were quickly targeted: an Irish Sun investigation revealed that a “staggering 66%” of household waste came from supermarkets, with a “whopping 40%” from supermarket plastics. The Sick of Plastic campaign, led by activists Friends of the Earth Ireland and VOICE, lays the blame for the recycling failure squarely on retailers’ shoulders. Meanwhile, in the background,
dramatic European packaging law changes are being considered. If they’re passed, manufacturers and retail businesses will have significantly higher recyclability standards to meet for plastic goods. The Revised EU Waste Packaging Directive The EU published its Revision of the Packaging and Packaging Waste Directive at the end of 2022. This details a list of proposed changes to the existing EU packaging laws dating from 1994, representing the first major change to packaging regulations in over 25 years. If passed, the proposed law change will have a significant impact on Irish businesses, who will need to comply with the new regulations to continue selling their goods in the European market. Aims of regulation The need to achieve climate neutrality by 2050 requires substantial changes to packaging and waste management: the proposals set aggressive targets to reduce total wastage in a time where packaging waste is growing rather than declining. The proposals have three main targets: reducing the generation of packaging
waste, encouraging a cost-effective circular economy for packaging, and increasing the use of recycled content in packaging. Waste reduction targets The waste reduction targets are set at five-year intervals: •
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By 2025: annual consumption of plastic bags reduced to 40 per person. 65% (by weight) of packaging waste to be recycled: specifically, 50% of plastic, 50% of aluminium, 70% of glass and 75% of paper and board. By 2030: full compliance with design for recycling criteria by all EU member states. Packaging waste per capita to be reduced by 5% from 2018 levels. Deposit return schemes for metal and single-use plastic beverage containers. By 2035: all member states should be recycling packaging at scale, with a sufficient and effective recyclable infrastructure. Per capita packaging waste to be reduced by 10%. By 2040: an overall 15% reduction in packaging waste across the EU and within each member state.