Packaging accounts for a significant amount of material use. 40% of plastic in the EU is used in packaging. 50% of paper and one third of municipal solid waste is packaging waste.
This has a direct impact on the planet, as the extraction and processing of natural resources to produce materials accounts for 25% of global greenhouse gas emissions.
We also know that resource extraction and processing are responsible for 90% of biodiversity loss and water stress, globally.
That’s why the final publication of the EU’s Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulations (PPWR)in 2024 is so important. The Regulations are a major step change in how we manage packaging in the EU. Previously, it was the PPWD, the ‘D’ standing for directive. Directives set out goals which EU countries must achieve, and member states can introduce laws that transpose directives into national law. Regulations, however, are laws that apply to all member states. They become part of national law and can be enforced through the national courts of each member state from the time they come into force. In other words, Regulations carry more authority than Directives.
These new packaging regulations herald a step change in how we manage packaging in the EU. There isa lot to unpack within it, from targets for recycled content to bans on PFAS in food packaging, there are targets for reusable packaging and, crucially, targets to reduce packaging placed on the market.
We at VOICE are particularly interested to see that there are targets to reduce packaging in the first place. We’ve said it before and will continue to say this, to stop a bath from overflowing you must turn off the tap.
These regulations could be our tap.
IRELAND
The revised PPWR’s set a national target of 15% reduction in packaging waste per capita, based on 2018 levels, by 2040. This is a reduction target, not a recycling target; the difference is critical because it moves the issue of packaging waste back upstream – reducing it at source. And if we recall the waste hierarchy of the Three R’s, the reason that Reduce comes before Recycle is because reduction of materials in the first instance is always preferable - the more we reduce packaging, the less we must recycle.
Using the latest figures, Ireland is already up 12% on our 2018 levels, meaning we are making a tough ask even tougher - we now have less time to cut more - 27% by 2040.
Our waste per capita has fluctuated quite a lot over the last 4 years, but the trend line is upwards; roughly 6kg extra per person per year, following that trend we can expect that our bins will be overflowing with two thirds more packaging waste(168% of our 2018 levels, or about 394kg of packaging waste per person – that’s heavier than a fully-grown leather back turtle!).
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'These regulations could be our tap'
What this means is that more packaging is being placed on the market. This could be in the form of more ‘stuff’ being bought, or it could also be producers increasing the packaging around the products they sell.
Recycling, while being one part of the solution, is low down on the waste hierachy. Latest research, published in Communications Earth & Environment, shows a significant increase in the amount of plastic being disposed of globally by incineration rather than recycling, with just 27.9% of plastic waste disposed of in 2022 actually being recycled. Clearly, we need to make some serious changes.
Actions like the DRS for plastic bottles and cans, organic waste collection and increased recycling are important as they address what we do with the other 85% and ensure we recover that material, but they do not move the needle on reducing waste in the first instance.
To do this we have 2 options:
1. Invest very seriously in re-use systems.
This means that producers and retailers will need to think about how they can provide us with a reusable system. We’ve seen the demand for these systems growing e.g. the success of re-usable cups and the call for them coming from towns and villages across the country like Fingal Reusable Cup Project – but this now needs to move beyond cups and into other areas of packaging. Indeed, the PPWR calls for increased investment in reuse from member states to achieve this aim. Since only 2% of the packaging placed on the Irish market is reusable, there is substantial room for growth. Ultimately, whatever systems we put in place must be easy to use and easy to understand. Without the support and buy-in from the public, re-use systems stand little chance of success.
2. A serious reduction in the quantity of packaging on the market.
This can be through increased packaging free alternatives (e.g. buying loose fruit and veg), improved packaging design, bulk buying (e.g. 1kg of yoghurt in 1 pot vs, 8 single servings in 8 pots).
We want the product, not the packaging. There is a lot of work to do to bring that graph inline with the targets. There is an onus on industry and stakeholders to change their practices and normalise reuse, and we’ve seen that there is a clear path towards achieving this. As we see in the graph, the one thing that we cannot do is business as usual.
