European Parliament future regulation to reduce waste given green light Containers and packaging, A law “weakening” the Commission’s proposal Intense and “overwhelming” pressure from the industryAs condemned by MEPs.
Some MPs working on the negotiations of the future regulation expressed this to Efe, the text of which was voted on at the plenary meeting of the European Parliament in Strasbourg this Wednesday.
The future regulation, which is supported by the European Parliament and must be negotiated in a tripartite dialogue with the Commission and the Council for approval, will require Member States to reduce packaging waste by 5 percent – compared to the 2018 generation. % by 2030, 10% by 2035 and 15% by 2040, targets for plastic it increases to 10%, 15% and 20% respectively.
Regulations approved by the European Parliament will set binding targets for the reduction of containers and packaging for the first time
Regulations approved by the European Parliament For the first time, binding will set packaging reduction targetsIt will increase recycling targets and ban the use of substances such as PFAS and Bisphenol A (already banned in Spain) added to food packaging.
This legislative process mobilized the plastic industry and, above all, the paper and cardboard industry.According to the first proposal, the restrictions that would also affect electronic commerce packaging were removed. free space limit in packages Boxes that are disproportionately large in content should be avoided so that it does not exceed 40%.
Measures canceled under pressure from the industry
This specific measure was one of those removed from the text following the amendment vote at the general assembly, along with the ban on plastic containers for fruits and vegetables weighing less than 1 kg, the ban on canteen interiors and disposable containers. banning single-dose condiments (such as “mini butter” or “mini jam”).
The European Parliament woke up in the morning to leaflets hung on the doors of all MPs by activists linked to companies.
MEPs note that there is particularly “intense” pressure around this law, socialist Mohammed Chahim confided to a group of journalists. Journalists said he was open to talking to the industry but rejected what he saw as a very intrusive form of ‘lobbying’. ‘.
Last week, The European Parliament was woken up at dawn by leaflets hung on all MPs’ doors and were asked to “correct” what the environmental commission had not done and vote at the general meeting; for example, exemptions for takeaway food and beverage containers.
He had fabricated and installed them overnight. 360° Food service organization affiliated with multinational companies such as McDonalds and Starbucksamong others.
MEPs also argue that direct pressure has been particularly “overwhelming”, as described by Irish woman Grace O’Sullivan of the Greens.
400 meetings with the industry
“It would take hours to count the requests we have received to meet with the industry”O’Sullivan claimed to Efe that the European Parliament usually adopts a more ecologically assertive position than the Commission, but this time the opposite has happened, a fact his party attributes to “excessive lobbying” on parliamentarians.
Members of the European Parliament registering since September 2022 More than 400 meetings were held with companies such as McDonalds, oil company TotalEnergies or Nestlé, as well as plastic and cardboard manufacturers, to consider the content of the regulation.n, with packaging companies and also with some environmental platforms such as Zero Waste Europe.
“We met with other groups to find a balance, but overall there was a disproportionate number of pressure groups,” says O’Sullivan, emphasizing above all the cardboard and paper industry ‘lobby’.
Both the Greens group and environmentalists emphasize that they regret that the text resulting from the negotiations in the environment committee is “decaffeinated” compared to the Commission’s “much more ambitious” proposal, and after 341 amendments adopted in the draft bill. Another 184 people from the commission arrived at the plenary session; this is an unusually high number for a plenary session.