Over the past 11 years the amount of packaging waste going to final disposal has fallen by 43%, analysis of EU data on packaging has found. Higher recycling levels and other forms of packaging waste recovery are largely the reason says EUROPEN, the European Organization for Packaging and the Environment.
In 2008 in the EU 15 member states just over 17 million tonnes of packaging were sent for final disposal. By comparison, an estimated 89 million tonnes of food are being wasted in the EU 27, more than five times the amount of packaging waste.
Excluding wood packaging, the amount of packaging placed on the market rose by only 10% and the amount of packaging waste disposed of by incineration or landfill actually fell by 43%.
According to EUROPEN, the report titled Packaging and Packaging Waste Statistics in Europe 1998-2008 contradicts widely held perceptions that packaging has led to a mountain of waste across Europe. Instead, it confirms an earlier EU Commission assessment of the EU Thematic Strategy on Waste Prevention and Recycling, which showed that all packaging waste accounts for only about 3% of total waste.
“The data supports our view that the 1994 Directive on Packaging and Packaging Waste is clearly one of the most successful pieces of EU environmental legislation,” says EUROPEN Managing Director Julian Carroll.
The full 43 page report on the Analysis of Official EU Data on Packaging and Packaging Waste can be downloaded from the EUROPEN website.
