Member News

Legislation Updates

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Spain - Key provisions of the new waste and circular economy war - 18 May 2022

• allows e-commerce platforms to assume the financial, informational and – if appropriate - organisational obligations of unregistered/non-compliant producers “as product producers”, by way of a “single registration with respect to all the affected products” (Art. 2 ac). Note: Existing EPR Decrees are to be aligned with the Law by 5-Jan-23 (6th final provision);
• provides the legal basis for product-specific decrees to require information about environmental characteristics, guarantee a right-to-repair and increase product warranty periods (Art. 37.1);
• prohibits the destruction/disposal of unsold non-perishable products i.e. textiles, toys and EEE (Art. 18.2);
• mandates the establishment of EPR regimes by Apr-25 on textiles, furniture and fixtures, agricultural plastics and SUP coffee capsules (7th final provision) [Note: Municipalities must separately collect textiles from 2025 (Art. 25.2)].

• The SUPD’s Art. 4 - consumption reduction of SUP cups and food containers intended for immediate consumption - is transposed by requiring
  • from Jan-23 a fee to be charged to consumers and the fee to be separately shown on the invoice. The amount of the fee is not specified (Art. 55.2);
  • a reduction in the weight of these products POM of 50% by 2026 compared to 2022 and 70% by 2030 (Art. 55.1);
• The transposition of the SUPD’s Art. 5 - prohibition of placing on the market –  adds a ban on products with intentionally added plastic microspheres smaller than 5 millimeters (Art. 56);
• The SUPD’s Art. 9 - separate collection of plastic beverage bottles (77% in 2025, 90% in 2029) is transposed with additional interim targets – 2023: 70% and 2027: 85% (Art. 59). If the interim targets are not met, a national level DRS is to be implemented within two years (Art. 59.2).
• From 2023, supermarkets with an area of ​​over 400 sqm must dedicate at least 20% of their area to the sale of products without packaging (Art. 18.4);
• All food establishments that sell fresh products and beverages, as well as cooked food, must accept the use of consumers’ reusable containers (bags, containers, bottles, among others), with consumers being responsible for its conditioning (Art. 18.4);
• Establishments in the hotel and restaurant sector must always offer consumers the possibility of consuming unpackaged water free of charge (Art. 18.3).id and flexible PS, PVC, PE, PP, and PET.

EU - Plastics Europe shines light on status quo of the circularity of plastics in the EU - 6 May 2022

• 53.9 million tons (102 kg per capita) of plastics were converted into plastic parts and products: 85% of plastics used derived from new fossil feedstock, 8.5% use post-consumer recycled plastics, and 7% pre-consumer recycled plastics (production scrap). The consumed amount of plastic parts and products in EU27+3 is almost the same (101 kg per capita), as exports slightly exceed imports.
• 29.5 million tons (56 kg per capita) of post-consumer plastics arise as waste: The amount of plastics that became available for waste collection in 2020 corresponds to 55% of the plastics consumed in that year. While 100% of plastic packaging becomes waste within one year of consumption, other plastic products and parts stay in service for 1-50 years. 
• 10.2 million tons (19 kg per capita) of post-consumer plastic were sent for recycling: 35% of plastic waste was sent for recycling (of which 16% was outside of the EU), 42% for energy recovery and 23% were landfilled.  
• 9.1 million tons (17 kg per capita) of post-consumer plastics were input into EU recycling plants, while the output of recycled plastics was 5.5 MT: EU recycling plants received 8.6 million tons of EU-derived plastic waste and imported about 0.5 million tons from outside of the EU. 60% of input was converted into recycled plastics (5.5 million tons of recycled plastics) while 40% were process losses that were energy recovered or landfilled.
• 4.6 MT (9 kg per capita) recycled plastics used in new products in the EU: The 0.9 million difference to EU recyclers output is classed as export surplus.

France - Decree sets out consumer information requirements about 11 enviromental characteristics - 4 May 2022

• requires producers and importers of consumer products to provide information to consumers about: -
  • 11 environmental qualities and characteristics [left column of table below] of their products or packaging [middle column in table], as stipulated in Art. 13* of the Feb-20 AGEC Law.
  • the premiums and penalties (modulated recycling fees) paid.

• prohibits the terms “biodegradable”, “environmentally friendly” and similar terms on products and packaging from Jan-23 (see also proposed EU ban of ‘generic environmental claims’).

• Jan-23 to producers and importers with a turnover above EUR 50m and a POM of above 25k units;
• Jan-24 to producers and importers with a turnover above EUR 20m and a POM of above 10k units;
• Jan-25: to producers and importers with a turnover above EUR 10m and a POM of above 10k units.

1. the ability to be efficiently collected locally, through the population’s access to local collection points
2. the ability to be sorted, i.e. directed to certain recycling channels in order to be recycled
3. the absence of elements or substances that will disrupt the sorting, recycling or limit the use of the recycled material
4. the extent to which the recycled material produced by the recycling processes used represents more than 50% of the bulk of the waste collected
5. the ability to be recycled on an industrial scale and in practice, in particular through a guarantee that the quality of the recycled material obtained is sufficient to guarantee the sustainability of the outlets, and that the recycling chain can demonstrate sufficient ability to take charge of the products that can be integrated into it.

France - 3R Strategy for SUP packaging quantifies reduction potential for 40 product sectors - 2 May 2022

• the Apr-21 “3R Decree” to: -
  • reduce SUP packaging by 20% by 2025 (compared to 2018), whereby at least half the reduction must derive from re-use; and to
  • ensure all plastic packaging is recyclable and all unnecessary SUP packaging is eliminated by 2025.
• the revised EU Packaging Directive to recycle 50% of plastic packaging in 2025.
• the Feb-20 AGEC Law in which France set itself the objective "to achieve the end of the marketing of single-use plastic packaging by 2040".

• reduction potential is expected to be 452 K tons (16% of POM) and 4 groups contribute 70% of the potential:
  • catering related packaging (27% of the reduction potential),industrial and commercial packaging (20%),
  • beverages (12%; mostly waters and soft drinks) and
  • cleaning chemicals (10%, 7.5% by professional chemicals alone).
• re-use potential is expected to be 514 K tons (18% of POM) and 87% of the potential rests with the same 4 groups:
  • industrial and commercial packaging (39%),
  • catering related packaging (33%),
  • cleaning chemicals (8%, 6.5% by professional chemicals alone),
  • beverages (7%; mostly waters and soft drinks).
• potential to reincorporate recycled content is expected to be 509 K tons (18% of POM) and - except for catering related packaging - will be driven by the same groups:
  • industrial and commercial packaging (40%),
  • beverages (24%; mostly waters and soft drinks) and
  • cleaning chemicals (21%, 17.4% by professional chemicals alone).

• To reduce plastic packaging by 10% through re-use (as mandated in the 3R Decree), return systems for reusable packaging need to be established. These are estimated to require investments of EUR 1 - 2.3 billion, mainly for reverse vending machines and washing installations for a system of reusable beverage bottles.
• Modifying filling lines to accommodate substitutes for the 16% of non-recyclable* SUP packaging: To handle the packaging replacing the 16% non-recyclable plastic packaging, as well as the new reusable packaging and another 5% of plastic packaging estimated to be substitutable by other materials, around 20% of all packaging and filling lines will need to be modified. The 3R Strategy estimates a minimum investments of EUR 600 million. This amount alone is required in the context of replacing plastic milk bottles with for example beverage cartons. The switch from PS to PET yoghurt pots would require investments in line modifications of EUR 250 to 400 million.  
• To meet the 50% recycling target in 2025, collection, sorting and recycling capacity need to be increased by 0.5 million tons. This is estimated to require investments of EUR 0.9 - 1.6 billion.

News from Industry

• Co-op overhauls food to go range with reduced packaging; Co-op has re-launched its food-to-go range, reducing the packaging and replacing all single-use plastic cutlery with wooden sporks.
• Biotech startup raises $6.2m for plastic-free compostable packaging; The company will use the funding to scale its technology and invest in commercial growth to put an end to single-use plastics starting with the beauty industry.
• The new law in France for sustainable packaging; Reducing plastic is a hot topic worldwide. For example, in the EU, various types of disposable plastic are banned. France takes it a step further by adopting the Agec Act, which bans plastic packaging of fruits and vegetables, among other things.
• Kite Packaging unveils purpose-built dispenser for honeycomb paper cushioning pads; According to Kite Packaging, Hivefill expands and compresses the strong hive-shaped cells to form cushioning pads ideal for absorbing impacts and protecting the contents of a box. The dispenser features a funnel that the user manually pulls the paper through, apparently allowing it to be configured into a resilient format where the hexagons are expanded and interlinked together.
• Tide Ocean SA implements technology to provide fully transparent material passports; Swiss plastic upcycler Tide Ocean SA has teamed up with Norwegian tech company Empower to track material flows through every step of its journey with all data being saved on a public blockchain.
• Post-Consumer Recycled Plastic Packaging Demand Increases; Demand for post-consumer recycled plastic packaging was nearly 4.8 million metric tons in 2021 and will see significant growth through 2026, with the food and beverage industry leading the way, according to a report from Smithers.
• A Catalan company creates edible packaging that avoids the use of plastic; The Department of Business and Labor reported that the Catalan startup Bio2Coat, from Terrassa, has developed edible coatings and packaging for the preservation and packaging of food products. “They use ingredients and surpluses in the food chain, such as vegetables, fruit, vegetables, and tubers, together with minority ingredients from natural sources to obtain a film-shaped biological source material that can help preserve food and is also edible. Thus, Bio2Coat's product allows reducing food waste and the generation of waste such as plastic."
• Mondi and beck packautomaten create paper packaging for e-commerce; Multinational packaging and paper company Mondi has partnered with German machine supplier beck packautomaten to launch a packaging solution for the e-commerce industry. The FunctionalBarrier Paper solution is made 95% from paper and can be recycled in all European paper waste streams.
• UK COP26 president Alok Sharma relaunches zero-emissions vehicle declaration with new signatories;The COP26 President Alok Sharma has made an urgent call to leaders around the world to sign the Zero-Emission Vehicles Declaration (ZEV) in a bid to address the climate emergency and achieve the goals of the Paris agreement.
• More than 3,000 potentially harmful chemicals found in food packaging; International experts who analyzed more than 1,200 scientific studies warn chemicals are being consumed with unknown long-term impacts.
• AI waste analytics platform raises nearly £9 million to tackle waste “data drought”; UK-based AI waste analytics platform Greyparrot has raised $11 million (£8,807,040) in a Series A funding round, which they say is to tackle the “data drought” in the waste industry and increase recycling rates and introduce accountability to the waste value chain globally.
• 82% of households in Northern Ireland "happy" with recycling service; In council areas where household recyclables, such as plastic, paper, card, tins and cardboard, can become mixed with glass in the same container, 82% of householders reported that they were happy with how their council has asked them to recycle, with Derry and Strabane Council’s householders being most content, at 88%.
• Smurfit Kappa unveils 100% recyclable water-resistant paper; Smurfit Kappa has developed an innovative and sustainable water-resistant paper, AquaStop.
• Recovered paper exports “crucial” for recycling industry; Global free, fair and sustainable recovered paper trade is “crucial” for recycling industry, says EuRIC.
  EuRIC, the Confederation representing the interests of the European recycling industries at EU level, says future Waste Shipment Regulation should not hinder a “well-functioning global market” for the trade of recovered paper.
• The Royal Mint launches jewellery collection made from gold recovered from electronic waste; 886 is the newly launched lifestyle brand from The Royal Mint; it has unveiled its debut line of in-house fine jewellery crafted in-house in the UK using gold recovered from electronic waste.
• Switching to eco-friendly “capsule wardrobe” could save consumers up to  £27k; Rapanui describes capsule wardrobes as a current social media trend with 286.4M views on TikTok and over 39k Google searches this year alone. It is a minimalist approach to building a small collection of fashion items that can be used to create several different outfits with carefully selected pieces that will stay in style for longer.
• Veolia-Suez merger review finds “competition concerns”; The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has provisionally found that the merger of Veolia and Suez would lead to a loss of competition in the supply of several waste and water management services in the UK.
• UK’s largest flexible plastic household collection and recycling pilot launches; A £2.9m Flexible Plastic Fund FlexCollect project is set to be the most extensive pilot for household collection and recycling of flexible plastic packaging ever undertaken in the UK, according to a cross-industry consortium.
• “Urgent action” needed to meet the ambitions of UK’s 25 Year Environment Plan; The Office for Environmental Protection (OEP) has called for the UK government to “aim high and act now” to ensure it achieves its ambitions for the environment. In publishing its first monitoring report on the government’s 25 Year Environment Plan, the OEP recognises the plan’s ambition but states that progress has been slow.
• New fund to position plastic waste as an “investable opportunity”; The Alliance to End Plastic Waste and Lombard Odier Investment Managers (LOIM) have announced their intention to launch a new circular plastic fund. The fund will aim to raise US$500 million from institutional and other accredited investors for scalable solutions to remove plastic waste from the environment, increase recycling, and drive the global transition towards a circular economy for the plastic value chain. The Alliance will serve as a cornerstone investor in the fund.
• Will the UK Plastic packaging tax force businesses to act sustainably?; The UK Government introduced the plastic packaging tax on 1 April 2022, which is designed to give companies a financial incentive to clean up their act and meet worldwide environmental targets.
• New nail polish packaging trends taking off in 2022; Here are some new nail polish packaging trends that will shape 2022–simple but luxurious, eco-friendly, special shape and 2-in-1 colour combination design
• A deep dive into packaging sustainability in Ukraine; At the end of 2021, Ukraine’s parliament passed legislation to ban plastic bags. But truly addressing the issue of plastic packaging waste requires a more holistic approach.
• Individual waste stream maps for 21 countries unveiled by the World Packaging Organisation; Each Waste Stream Mapping Guide includes a simple table with entries for different materials: composite beverage cartons, paper, aluminium, tin plate, glass, and plastic. The plastic category is further divided into specific polymers, accounting for rigid and flexible PS, PVC, PE, PP, and PET.
• Global Tomato Congress: Sustainability is the driving force in packaging; Carton Pack has developed a range of greener packaging solutions for tomatoes that offer a number of benefits to the supply chain without compromising on quality.
• Recycling rates fell in all UK countries in 2020 – except Wales; The UK recycling rate dropped by 1.6% in 2020, according to new figures published by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra).
  The UK’s overall household recycling rate, including incinerator bottom ash (IBA) was 44.4% in 2020, decreasing from 46.0% in 2019. The UK household recycling rate (including incinerator bottom ash (IBA) was 44.4% in 2020, decreasing from 46.0% in 2019. The recycling rate for households decreased in all UK countries in 2020 except Wales. The recycling rate for England was 44.0%, compared with 49.1% in Northern Ireland, 41.0% in Scotland, and 56.5% in Wales.
• Grassroots circular economy talent celebrated in Johannesburg; International NGO WasteAid brought together grassroots circular economy talent at a celebratory event for local residents working towards making Johannesburg a zero waste city.
• Independent report recommends limit on future energy from waste capacity in Scotland; An independent review of the role of incineration in Scotland recommends a cap on future energy from waste (EfW) capacity. The report, which was authored by waste sector expert and former CIWM CEO Dr Colin Church, reviews the role of incineration in the waste hierarchy, with a focus on aligning national capacity with Scotland’s waste reduction targets.
• Apple expands the use of recycled materials across products; For the first time, Apple has introduced certified recycled gold, and more than doubled the use of recycled tungsten, rare earth elements, and cobalt. Nearly 20 percent of all material used in Apple products in 2021 was recycled, the highest-ever use of recycled content, the company said.
• Avery Dennison and Hedera team up to help decarbonise supply chains; Part of the collaboration is the adoption of Hedera’s distributed ledger technology (DLT) into the atma.io connected product cloud. atma.io customers now can access “one of the most cost effective and energy efficient DLT/blockchain platforms” and use that functionality to drive their decarbonisation goals.
• Lidl launches new “smart” laundry detergent refill station in store; Lidl is introducing a new “smart” laundry detergent refill station with the aim of reducing plastic and reducing costs for consumers. In partnership with Algramo, Lidl has launched a refill station at its Kingswinford store as part of a 6-month trial to measure the performance of laundry detergent refill stations.
• Clinique revolutionises NFC-enabled experience across 35 markets; The global manufacturer of skincare, cosmetics, toiletries and fragrances is integrating Near Field Communication (NFC) technology into its product experience.
• 60% of consumers would switch to a rival tech brand if goods were produced sustainably, RSC research shows; Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) survey shows 60% of consumers would switch to a rival tech brand over environmental concerns; with 73% of people surveyed worldwide also believing governments should take urgent action to tackle e-waste.
• Smurfit Kappa gets Vegan Society trademark; Corrugated specialist Smurfit Kappa has become the first packaging company to receive a Vegan Society trademark.
• Starbucks and Hubbub launch £1m fund to boost reuse schemes; The Bring It Back Fund aims to remove barriers for reuse schemes and aims to support pilot projects that help shift people’s habits. Up to five projects will each receive grants of between £150,000-£300,000 for a year. Applications open on 11 May 2022 and close at 5pm on 24 June 2022.
• BRE to develop a new methodology to better measure the energy performance of UK homes; The Building Research Establishment (BRE) has announced a new project alongside BEIS to “modernise home energy rating scheme in time for Future Homes Standard”.
• Encirc supports Britvic in cutting carbon emissions with new cordial deal; The new deal will now see Encirc fill Britvic’s Robinsons 500ml glass cordial bottles, which it already manufactures at its Elton, Cheshire site. In addition, Encirc will continue to make and fill the soft drink giant’s Purdey’s bottles and J2O Spritz bottles.
• Ecoveritas warns of cost implications with two-system producer responsibility; The government recently concluded its second round of consultations and engagement with stakeholders. This consultation provides more clarity on how the delayed plans will transition from the current framework of producer obligation to a phased introduction of Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR). The shift will see current systems built on, rather than scrapped, but does demand more granular reporting and greater investment to achieve better outcomes for packaging waste.
• Root launches Knowledge Bank for packaging professionals; Root Knowledge Bank subscribers will receive quarterly 10-15min reads covering key events, policy and material updates.
• AM Labels launches new linerless label offering; AM Labels has expanded its portfolio with the inclusion of a new range of linerless label printers, reducing waste generated during the printing process.