The European Commission’s proposal for an EU Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR) aims to promote the transformation to a Circular Economy through uniform Europe-wide requirements for the sustainability and labelling of packaging as well as the collection and recycling of packaging waste.
Companies that manufacture and/or place packaging on the market within the EU will be confronted by the PPWR with Europe-wide standardised requirements for the design of packaging regarding its recyclability and the use of recyclates. While the current EU Directive (EU Directive 94/62/EC) is a “Directive” by title and can therefore be implemented differently by each member state, the PPWR will be a regulation. The Commission is therefore aiming to change the legal form from a directive to a regulation. The provisions of this legal form are directly applicable throughout the European Union and therefore no longer require transposition into national law.
The EU Commission published its proposal for the PPWR on 30 November 2022. The proposal was subsequently discussed in a so-called trilogue procedure between representatives of the European Parliament, the Council of the European Union and the European Commission. On 4 March 2024, the parties were finally able to agree on a compromise text – just in time to enable a resolution to be passed during the current legislative period.
If final agreement is reached on the legislative text, the legal and linguistic review will not be completed before the European elections in June. The newly elected Parliament may therefore have to adopt corrections after the elections. Current forecasts suggest that the PPWR will be finally adopted at the end of 2024. After final adoption, the regulation can enter into force following its publication in the Official Journal of the EU. The final step of this legislative process includes a transitional period of 18 months, after which the Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation will become mandatory for all EU member states.
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