EU Packaging Regulation jeopardises own ecological goals

The EU's plans for a packaging regulation jeopardise the ecological goals it is striving for. The association DIE PAPIERINDUSTRIE warns of this. The paper industry and packaging manufacturers supported the intention of the European Commission to minimise the environmental impact of packaging and packaging waste. "Giving reusable packaging blanket priority, however, runs counter to the idea of a circular economy," explained the association's chief executive, Alexander von Reibnitz. "Ecologically advantageous packaging made of paper, cardboard and carton would be forced out of the market and replaced by fossil packaging. To achieve the goal of the regulation, both must be treated equally."

According to the paper industry, the ecological priority of reusable packaging is not proven. Unlike paper and cardboard packaging, which is based on renewable raw materials, the production of reusable packaging consumes fossil resources. Reusable packaging inevitably leads to high additional logistical costs. Avoidable empty runs increase, cause additional CO₂ emissions, tie up scarce logistics capacities and unnecessarily burden already strained transport networks.

Implementation of the planned reusable targets would lead to a significant proportion of recyclable paper and cardboard packaging being replaced by plastic packaging. This would be in contradiction to the EU's circular economy action plan, according to which all packaging must be recyclable or reusable by 2030, i.e. there is an equivalence between circular and reusable.

Packaging made of paper, cardboard and carton can be fully recycled. Across the EU, they are characterised by an extremely high recycling rate of 82 per cent. This rate is even exceeded in Germany with 89 percent. Around 60 percent of the total German paper production of 23.1 million tonnes per year is packaging paper. Their fibres can be recycled at least 25 times.