Community blow to Spain’s efforts to tackle single-use plastic containers. The European Commission’s Directorate General for Industry and Entrepreneurship has published a report. Recommends that the Spanish Government lower the most ambitious targets of the Royal Decree on Packaging, pending approval and reducing disposable packaging and some of the dangerous substances they contain.
According to various consumer and environmental organizations, “strong pressure from the disposable packaging industry” will be behind the decision As the EU will betray some 40 claims submitted, “many of them coordinated, sent to the Commission by employers”.
The measures that these entities (including Greenpeace, Retorna, Oceana and Friends of the Earth) applaud in the text of the operative royal decree are precisely those that the EU reports negatively. These include “banning the use of toxic substances (phthalates and bisphenol A) in packaging, reducing waste, especially plastic bottles, banning the packaging of fruits and vegetables, or paying companies to clean up the garbage.” dispersed”, according to a public statement by these organizations.
“While the draft Royal Decree on packaging is already lacking in ambition in some ways, further lowering its measures is a serious blow to legal progress towards zero waste,” they say.
As it is a text transposing several European directives, Spain, as required, sent the proposal for the new Royal Decree on Packaging and Packaging Waste to Brussels for community review. Now, the European Commission has issued an opinion proposing to remove the most ambitious points of the initiative.
this The main changes in the royal decree requested by Brussels are:
– Lifting the ban on toxic substances in packaging (Phthalates and Bisphenol A) This encourages the Royal Decree project, as it does not correspond to those created by the Community Packaging Directive from 1994, and it is in the process of being fully revised after almost 30 years of validity.
– Eliminate targets to reduce packaging waste (13% by 2025 and 15% by 2030) and single-use plastic bottles (20% by 2030).
– Lifting the ban on packaging of fresh fruits and vegetables and the obligation to sell them in bulk in lots of less than 1.5 kg, although France and other countries have taken the same measure for several years.
– Don’t force companies to pay the cost of collecting garbage left in the environment, as the Ministry wants to do. The Opinion says this measure goes beyond what is derived from the Extended Producer’s Responsibility in Article 8 of the 2008 Waste Directive.
“As civil society, we encourage the Government and the Ministry to follow the example of other Member States and continue to defend the health of people and the environment in the face of this view, which is clearly filled with business pressure. Any other scenario would be to collapse. Spain’s intention to confront serious problem of plastic pollution and contrary to the European waste directives themselves“Confirmed representatives of Friends of the Earth, Ecoologists in Action, Greenpeace, Oceana, Retorna, Rezero and Surfrider.
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