Recovery rates for packaging, especially recycling rates, in the EU-27 countries continue to increase, according to new in-depth analysis from Europen.
Official EU data on the evolution of packaging waste rates (1998-2011) shows yearly increases in packaging recycling rates and a steady decline in packaging waste going to landfill, according to Europen, the European Organization for Packaging and the Environment.
The European packaging supply chain industry body concludes that it demonstrates the packaging supply chain’s “continued commitment towards Europe’s resource efficiency objectives”.
By the end of 2011, Europen says, 64% of packaging placed on the market in EU-27 was being recycled, largely exceeding the 55% minimum recycling target currently set by the EU’s Packaging & Packaging Waste Directive (PPWD).
In the older Member States (EU-15), 65% of the packaging placed on the market was recycled in the period studied.
In the newer EU-12 Member States (joined the EU in 2004 and 2007), 51% was recycled – however the PPWD targets do not apply to these countries until 2012 or later.
Europen MD Virginia Janssens says: “The launch of the report is timely for Europen members and stakeholders amid the current European Commission review of the EU targets in the Packaging & Packaging Waste Directive (PPWD) and the forthcoming proposals for new EU packaging targets in May 2014.
Data from the report will “further inform the discussion and will help to establish achievable targets for all packaging materials”, Janssens says The PPWD requires EU Member States to establish return, collection and recovery systems for used packaging.
Europen’s position is that the PPWD remains essential for ensuring that packaging, and post-consumer packaging in particular, is collected separately to meet existing and future recycling and recovery targets across the EU.
However, the organisation states, a revised PPWD should ensure that recycling rates continue to increase by containing “binding minimum requirements for extended producer responsibility (EPR) for packaging waste, as well as harmonised definitions in EU waste legislation”.
“One of the key challenges is to bridge the gap between the newer and the older Member States in terms of waste management performance,” says Janssens.
“Europen therefore calls for the full implementation and enforcement of EU waste legislation across Europe, and a tailored approach in setting realistic targets for all packaging materials in the revised PPWD.”
This must take into account current packaging material recycling performance and the Member States’ varying waste management capabilities, Janssens concludes.
