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EU - Commission presents legislative package under Sustainability Products Initiative - 12 April 2022
On 30-Mar-22, the European Commission presented a legislative
package for negotiations with Parliament and the Member States that
proposes to enable the Commission to “green” nearly all physical goods,
boost circular business models and “empower consumers for the green
transition”.
Background and context
Under its Sustainability Products Initiative (SPI)*
the Commission released a legislative package on 30-Mar-22 that is
introduced by a headline 'communication on making sustainable products
the norm'. The four central texts of the package are:
A Proposal for Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation (ESPR) -
discussed below - which would replace the EcoDesign Directive
(2009/125/EC) and apply to nearly all physical goods, establish a
framework for setting performance and informational eco-design
requirements in Commission delegated acts, introduce a Digital Product
Passport and mandate transparency requirements at all stages of the
distribution chain, including online marketplaces, as regards the
destruction of unsold goods.
Two proposals directly addressed at the products with the most
significant environment and climate impacts: An EU Strategy for
Sustainable and Circular Textiles which includes eco-design
requirements, clearer information, a digital product passport and a
mandatory EPR from 2023, as well as a Proposal for a revision of the
Construction Product Regulation.
A Proposal for a Directive (amending consumer protection related
directives) to empower consumers for the green transition through better
protection against unfair practices and better information: It proposes
new consumer rights and to restrict misleading environmental claims
(geenwashing), early obsolescence and unverified sustainability labels.
Further initiatives under the SPI are expected later in 2022, notably on
Substantiating Green Claims and on the Right to Repair for which a
public consultation is open until 5-Apr-22.
* The SPI is stipulated by the Mar-20 CEAP which is part of the EU
Industrial Strategy and follows up on the Dec-19 European Green Deal -
“the growth strategy to transform the EU into a fair and prosperous
society, without net emissions of greenhouse gases in 2050”.
Commission initiatives related to the SPI include the Jun-21 draft
Regulation on General Product Safety and the Feb-22 proposal on the
Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence.
Key provisions of the proposed "Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation (ESPR)"
Legal basis and aims of the ESPR: On the basis of Article 114 of the
Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union - which relates to the
functioning of the internal market - the ESPR aims to
improve products that “generate unnecessary adverse environmental impacts”, and
contribute to EU industrial policy by boosting the supply of and demand
for sustainable products as well as the sustainable production of
intermediate goods.
Subject matter and scope (Art. 1): The ESPR establishes a framework for
ecodesign requirements for “any physical good placed on the market or
put into service, including components and intermediate products”,
except foods, medicines and plants. The Commission will launch a
consultation on a detailed list of in-scope products in late 2022 which
is expected to cover furniture, mattresses, tires, detergents, paints,
lubricants and intermediate products such as iron, steel and
aluminium.
Consistency of the ESPR with existing policies: The proposed ESPR will
“only apply to products not covered by existing legislation. or when
legislation does not sufficiently address the sustainability of those
products”. If the latter is the case and conflict arise between texts,
the following principles apply:
provisions specified in delegated acts are overruled by those specified in directives or regulations, and
the principle of lex specialis derogat legi generali applies (specific rules prevail over general rules).
Note: Energy Labelling Regulation (EU) 2017/1369 will continue to apply
in parallel to the proposed regulation which “means, for instance, that
as a principle [energy-related products] must only bear the energy label
specified under the Energy Labelling Regulation”.
Ecodesign requirements (Chapter II): The Commission is given broad
powers to establish Commission delegated acts that establish performance
related and/or informational ecodesign requirements to improve or
inform about the following product aspects:
[product lifespan:] (a) durability; (b) reliability; (c)
reusability; (d) upgradability; (e) repairability; (f) possibility of
maintenance and refurbishment;
[hazardous substance content:] (g) presence of substances of concern;
[energy efficiency:] (h) energy use or energy efficiency;
[resource circulation:] (i) resource use or resource efficiency; (j)
recycled content; (k) possibility of remanufacturing and recycling; (l)
possibility of recovery of materials; (n) expected generation of waste
materials.
[environmental footprint:] (m) environmental impacts, including carbon and environmental footprint;
Digital Product Passport and Product Passport Registry (Chapter III):
Products that are subject to informational requirements may only
be placed on the market or put into service if a Digital Product
Passport is available on a data carrier that is connected to the product
(or batch or item) via a unique identifier that is physically present
on the product, packaging or documentation. The data carrier and unique
identifier must be compliant with ISO/IEC 15459-2:2015 and feature
unique operator and facility identifiers. The product related
information must use open standards and inter-operable interfaces.
The Commission shall set up a Product Passport Registry that stores
information included in the product passports and is connected with the
EU Customs Single Window Certificates Exchange.
Labels (Chapter IV): The ESPR mentions three cases:
If labels are required by delegated acts, the acts must specify a
detailed labelling specifications and requirements. Moreover, the
economic operator placing the product on the market must ensure that
each individual product is labeled or deliver printed labels or digital
copies to the dealer free of charge within 5 working days of the
dealer's request, at the latest (Art. 26).
In case energy performance class labels for energy-related products are
required, the Commission may establish a new label [only] if new
requirements cannot be incorporated into the current energy label
[Regulation (EU) 2017/1369 LID 3790].
If labels are not required by delegated acts, products that display
“mimicking labels” - i.e. labels that are likely to confuse
customers – may not be placed on the market or put into service. The
Commissions factsheet on Empowering Consumers notes that sustainability
labels which are not based on an independent third party verification
system established by public authorities will be banned, and that
currently only 35% of sustainability labels in the EU* require specific
data to prove compliance. [*the factsheet mentions 230 voluntary
ecolabels, 901 food labelling schemes, and 100 private green energy
labels].
Self-regulation measures (Art. 18): Two or more economic operators may
submit a “self-regulation measure” (referred to as a 'voluntary
agreement’ in the current EcoDesign Directive 2009/125/EC) if their
market share by units of products covered by the measure is above 80%.
Micro and SME enterprises (Art. 19): The Commission shall “take into
account initiatives which help SMEs to integrate environmental
sustainability aspects including energy efficiency in their value chain”
and “accompany [delegated] acts with guidelines covering specificities
of SMEs”. Member States shall “help SMEs apply ecodesign requirements”
and ensure “the availability of one-stop shops or similar mechanisms”
and may provide SMEs with financial support, etc.
Destruction of unsold consumer products (Art. 20): An economic operator
that discards unsold consumer products directly, or on behalf of another
economic operator, shall disclose on a freely accessible website i.a.
the number of unsold consumer products discarded by type and the reasons
for the discarding of products, etc. The Commission is empowered to
adopt delegated acts that prohibit economic operators to destroy unsold
consumer products. This Article (20) shall not apply to SMEs unless
otherwise decided by the Commission.
Obligations of online marketplaces and online search engines (Art. 29):
The cooperation and disclosure obligations are specified and linked to
market surveillance regulation (EU) 2019/1020 (Art. 7.2), the yet to be
published Digital Services Act Regulation and General Product Safety
Regulation.
Conformity of products (Chapter VIII): For the purposes of
compliance and verification of compliance with ecodesign requirements,
tests, measurements and calculations shall be made using reliable,
accurate and reproducible methods that take into account the generally
recognized state-of-the art methods. The Commission may require the use
of online tools which shall be freely accessible for economic operators.
To ensure coherence with other Union law, the conformity assessment
procedures should be chosen from among the internal production control
module included in this Regulation and the modules included in Decision
768/2008/EC.
The CE marking will indicate that a product complies with ESPR. The
Commission is enabled to adopt alternative conformity declarations and
markings.
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France - Decree setting minimum share of reusable packaging published - 11 April 2022
The decree sets the minimum proportion of reused packaging for
2023 to 2027 and provides obligated producers with the possibility to
rely on their PRO to meet the re-use obligation. PROs must spend at
least 5% of their recycling fee revenues to develop re-use, also for
packaging not covered by their approval [i.e. industrial and commercial
packaging].
The decree implements the Environmental Code’s Art. L541-1 I and III** (as amended by the AGEC Law) which requires “France
[to increase] the share of reused packaging put on the market compared
to single-use packaging, so as to reach a proportion of 5% of reused
packaging … in 2023, expressed in sales units or sales unit equivalent,
and 10% … in 2027”.
The provisions in detail
From 1-Jan-23, a new subsection in the regulatory part of the
Environment Code entitled “Reuse of packaging” will come into force. It:
-
- applies to household and non-household packaging of any material,
except for a) packaging whose reuse is prohibited for health or safety
reasons and b) - until Jan-25 only - packaging of certain rural and
fishery products (covered by the Agricultural and Sea Fishing Code Art. L. 641-1 to 13).
- clarifies that packaging qualifies as “reused” if it is re-used at least once for an identical purpose and
that the reuse is a) organised by or on behalf of the producer or b)
pertains to the refill of a bulk service packaging at POS or c) a refill
at the end-users home (Art. R.541-350 II 2).
- introduces an increasing target share for reused packaging
as % of total POM by packaging sales units or sales unit equivalents.
The obligation will be phased in: until end 2024 it will apply only to
companies with a turnover above EUR 50 million [Note: Unlike the draft,
the final text does not exempt producers that POM less than 10,000 sales
units p.a.]
- notes that the target share applies to primary, secondary, or tertiary packaging and
is measured in units, unless the producer can justify the use of a
capacity equivalent. In this case, the capacity equivalent of 1 unit is
0.5 litres for liquids and 0.5 kg for non-liquids (Art. R. 541-350 IV).
- requires producers to meet the reuse target for their own products individually or collectively.
- requires approved packaging PROs that implement this obligation to: -
- eco-modulate recycling fees (to encourage reuse);
- develop
and financially support re-use solutions - with at least 5% of their
recycling fee revenues as required by Art. L. 541-10-18(V) - also for
packaging not covered by their approval [i.e. industrial and commercial
packaging].
Reusable quota complements SUP packaging reduction target of ‘3R Decree’
As regards plastic packaging, the mandatory quota for reusable packaging
complements the May-21 “3R Decree” which notably requires marketers to
reduce the tonnage of plastics POM in single-use packaging by 20%
compared to 2018, whereby at least half of this target ‘must be obtained
by recourse to re-use and réutilisation of packaging’***
* For example cross-cutting provisions applicable to all 22 product
groups subject to EPR, the repairability Index for EEE, etc.
** Art. L541-1 III: To achieve the national objectives for the reuse of
packaging set in 1 ° of I, a decree defines the minimum proportion of
reused packaging to be placed on the market annually in France. These
proportions may be different for each flow of packaging and product
categories to take into account the margins for progress existing in
each sector, the need to respect the environment and the requirements of
consumer hygiene or safety. To this end, people belonging to a sector
of activity concerned and collectively placing on the French market each
year more than a certain quantity of packaging are required to comply
on average with this minimum proportion of packaging reused for their
own products,
***as defined in Art. L541-1-1:-
- Reuse
(Réemploi): substances, materials or products that are not waste are
used again for an identical use for which they were designed.
- Reutilisation
(Réutilisation): substances, materials or products that have become
waste are used again. Ademe clarifies that ‘réutilisation’ involves no
processes other than control, cleaning and repair. Still, disassembly
maybe involved, as a widely used example of ‘réutilisation’ are wooden
pallets whose planks are being ‘réutilised’ as furniture.
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- Burger King becomes first fast-food restaurant in UK to trial re-usable and returnable packaging; Burger
King UK has become the first quick-service-restaurant corporation in
the UK to trial a new range of re-usable and returnable packaging for
its burgers and sides.
- Data reveals record year for aluminium packaging recycling; The
UK’s aluminium packaging recycling rate hit a record 68% in 2021, with
more than 156,000 tonnes collected for recycling (a 3% rise
year-on-year), according to annual data published by the Environment
Agency.
- Advanced chemical recycling: Connecting the dots to circularity; The
flexible packaging value chain, in addition to continuing work on
enhancing mechanical recycling processes, is also working on
commercialising chemical recycling. In this interview, Sirt Mellema, CEO
of Fuenix Ecogy Group, shares his insights on how advanced chemical
recycling can support the needs of the flexible packaging sector and
helps us understand the current challenges, and future trends.
- Smurfit Kappa creates ‘Better Planet’ detergent box; In
line with the company’s Better Planet initiative, Smurfit Kappa has
introduced a new packaging solution for detergent pods and capsules.
- Government lacks data to assess scale of waste crime in England – NAO; Government
does not have the data it needs to assess the scale of waste crime in
England, and the incentives for criminals to enter the waste market have
increased, according to the National Audit Office (NAO).
- Diageo partners with ecoSPIRITS for circular packaging solutions;
Instead of using glass bottles, the branded and re-useable 'eco-Tote'
containers will be sent to bars; which can then be returned to Diageo
when empty for refilling.
- EU not on track to halve non-recycled municipal waste by 2030 – EEA; Even
if all EU Member States reach their binding 60% recycling target by
2030, current trends indicate that the amount of residual municipal
waste might exceed 80 million tonnes in that year — missing the target
by more than 23 million tonnes, according to analysis by the European
Environment Agency.
- EPA creates €11.7 million fund for environmental research projects in Ireland; Ireland’s
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has offered €11.7 million to new
research projects, inviting proposals from the research community to
“address climate change and other emerging, complex environmental
problems” through research that supports the “development and
implementation of environmental policies in Ireland”.
- Net Zero Barometer Report: 1 in 5 UK businesses prioritising carbon reduction; BSI’s
annual Net Zero Barometer Report shows that almost half (49%) of UK
senior decision makers are prioritising growth in their organisation
while one in five (20%) are prioritising the reduction of carbon
emissions.
- European Investment Bank commits up to $20m to to fight plastic pollution in Asia; Singapore-based
investment management firm, Circulate Capital, has announced that the
European Investment Bank (EIB) has committed up to $20 million to the
Circulate Capital Ocean Fund I-B (CCOF I-B).
- Study finds recycling metal packaging reduces GHG linked to production by up to 60%; Metal
Packaging Europe says that recycling metal packaging “reduces the
greenhouse gases (GHG) linked to the production of steel and aluminium
by around 50% and 60% respectively”, according to a new Life Cycle
Assessment (LCA).
- US sees decline in post-pandemic plastic recycling volumes; In
2020, over 2 million tonnes of post-consumer plastics sourced in the US
were recovered for recycling, down 5.7% compared to 2019, according to
the 2020 US Post-consumer Plastic Recycling Data Report.
- L’Oréal announces creation of new circular innovation fund; L’Oréal
has announced the creation of the Circular Innovation Fund in response
to what it calls the “increasing pressure on natural resources and the
urgent need to scale-up circular economy solutions”.
- Veolia launches its first renewable fuelled fleet; Veolia
has announced the launch of a brand new fleet of waste and recycling
collection vehicles solely powered by renewable Hydrotreated Vegetable
Oil (HVO).
- Co-op to ditch use-by labels on yoghurts to combat food waste; The
retailer said that it will replace use-by label with best before dates
to guide shoppers. The Co-op cited data from WRAP which said that 50% of
yoghurts are thrown away in unopened packs. WRAP also said that 70% of
all the yoghurt wasted in the home was due to them “not being used in
time” with the date label the reason.
- Fashion Task Force announces Manifesto for Regenerative Fashion; Prince
Charles’ Sustainable Markets Initiative (SMI) Fashion Task Force has
announced its Manifesto for Regenerative Fashion. Included in the
manifesto is a €1,000,000 investment programme in the Himalayas aimed at
restoring wildlife and sustainable farming to what they say is a
“degraded landscape”.
- Global shipping firm will no longer transport any plastic waste aboard its ships; Global
shipping and logistics company, CMA CGM Group, will no longer transport
plastic waste cargo aboard its ships, following the One Ocean Summit
this year.
- Earth Day investment is important, says Plastics Industry Association; “This
year’s Earth Day theme of investing in our planet could not be more
appropriate”, said Patrick Krieger, vice-president for sustainability at
PLASTICS. “The plastics industry has invested and continues to invest
billions in new recycling technologies and programs at home and abroad,
innovating to increase the recyclability of the products we make and
including more recycled content at a record pace.”
- African Development Bank Group to launch trust fund for the circular economy; The
establishment of a €4 million Africa Circular Economy Facility to
“drive integration of the circular economy” into African efforts to
achieve nationally defined contribution (NDC) targets has been approved
by the African Development Bank.
- Call to end all waste exports to address waste crime is “ill-conceived”, RDFIG says; The
Environment Agency (EA) chief’s call for for an end on all waste
exports has been called “ill-conceived” by the RDF Industry Group
(RDFIG), which says the ban would “destroy the well-established global
trade in resources recovered in the UK while doing little to address the
problem.”
- “World’s first” tyres made with polyester from recycled PET bottles launched by Continental; Continental
says it has become the first tyre manufacturer to launch volume
production of recycled polyester yarn obtained from PET plastic bottles
into passenger car tyres.
- Research grant awarded to functional coatings recycling project; A
Swansea University research project aimed at bringing a circular
economy ‘one step closer’, has received a £1.2 million research grant
from the Engineering and Physical Science Research Council (EPSRC).
- End all waste exports to crack down on waste crime, says EA Chief; Environment
Agency (EA) Chief Executive Sir James Bevan has outlined his
aspirations to ban waste exports as a measure against waste criminals.
- Mars Wrigley UK claims that 97% of Easter Eggs are plastic-free; Mars
Wrigley UK has made a 142-tonne reduction in packaging across its
Easter Eggs and a 6-tonne reduction in plastic this Easter.
- UK government announces new crackdown on fly-tipping; Households
will no longer have to pay to get rid of DIY waste under plans set out
by government to change the rules that currently allows some local
authorities to charge for DIY waste from households.
- UK Government announces £240 million support for hydrogen; The
UK Government has today (8 April) launched a wide-ranging £375 million
package of support for innovative energy technologies that will set out
to strengthen the nation’s energy security.
- Prime Minister sets out UK’s plan for ‘greater energy independence’; Following
rising global energy prices and volatility in international markets,
the UK’s Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, has set out plans that aim to
boost Britain’s energy security, which include a diverse range of
nuclear, renewables and oil and gas.
- Amcor announces recycle-ready packaging for cheese; two new applications launching in Europe.
- Veolia project to unlock “unexplored” solution to produce CO2-neutral biofuel from pulp production; Veolia
has launched what it claims to be the world’s largest biorefinery
project producing CO2-neutral bio-methanol from a pulp mill.
- Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change: “We are at a crossroads”; There
is increasing evidence of climate action, said scientists in the latest
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report, but it says
we’re still at a ‘crossroads’.
- Pilot to collect for reuse tens of thousands of bottles from London venues; £2.55m
funding has been secured for the London pilot, which will see Again, a
London-based clean-tech start-up, partner with Budweiser, Diageo, Biffa,
Greene King and Arsenal Emirates Stadium.
- Welsh government commits to making manufacturers pay for ‘most commonly-littered items’; The
Welsh government has committed ensuring companies responsible for the
most commonly-littered items cover the clean-up costs.
- FPA criticises Welsh government plan to charge packaging producers for litter; The association said the move will completely exonerate the public for its role in creating litter.
- New bakery packaging concept reduces CO2 emissions by a third; According
to Metsä Board, the new eye-catching packaging reduces material
requirements by 25%, and carbon dioxide emissions by 34% compared to the
previous packaging. At the same time, the bakery was able to reduce its
use of plastic by moving away from a PE-coated board. In addition to
the environmental benefits, the design of the new bakery box is said to
make it quicker and easier to assemble.
- Risk of recycling ‘crisis’ as UK Government ‘deaf’ to red diesel ban concerns, says RMAS; The
body representing Scottish SME resource and waste management operators
says recycling services across the country are ‘under threat’ following
the UK Government’s ‘refusal’ to exempt the sector from today’s (1
April) cutting of the red diesel exemption.
- New EU proposals to tackle greenwashing and boost Europe’s ‘resource independence’; The
European Commission has presented a package of European Green Deal
proposals that will set out to make sustainable products ‘the norm’ in
the EU, boost circular business models and ‘empower consumers for the
green transition’.
- Canadian government to invest in produce packaging recycling project; The
Canadian government has announced an investment to help Canada’s fresh
produce industry transition to sustainable food and produce packaging.
Agriculture and Agri-Food Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau said the
government will invest up to C$376,200 ($299,869) in the Canadian
Produce Marketing Association (CPMA).
- Poll finds consumers committed to avoiding single-use plastic packaging; Half
of consumers say they will try to stop buying products which use
single-use plastic packaging completely over the next three years,
according to a new study on fashion retailing.
- DS Smith warns of spiralling costs of energy for UK-based businesses; Wouter
van Tol, head of government, community affairs & sustainability, DS
Smith, said that energy costs n the UK are double that in Europe: “Like
other manufacturers, we are committed to the UK, but the energy to
deliver goods and services here comes at nearly double the cost of that
in Europe. Looking ahead, businesses’ ability to invest in UK growth, UK
jobs, and UK-grown green tech, could become compromised without
government intervention, so we welcome the commitment to reform R&D
tax credit and to cut tax rates on business investment in the Autumn.”
- Designers warn of plastic tax impact on brands and consumers; Spokespeople from two leading design agencies gave PN their
opinion on how the incoming PPT will impact brands and pack design.
Nick Dorman from Echo who examines what he believes are the pros and
cons and Andy Trewin Hutt from Morrama who discussed PPT with the
agency’s client Wagamama.
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