Revisions of Rules on Packaging and Packaging Waste-EU

Essential requirements on the composition and the reusable and recoverable, including recyclable, nature of packaging:

Specific requirements to the manufacturing and composition of Packaging:

• Packaging shall be so manufactured that the packaging volume and weight be limited to the minimum adequate amount to maintain the necessary level of safety, hygiene and acceptance for the packed product and for the consumer.
• Packaging shall be designed, produced and commercialised in such a way as to permit its reuse or recovery, including recycling, in line with the waste hierarchy, and to minimise its impact on the environment when packaging waste or residues from packaging waste management operations are disposed of.
• Packaging shall be so manufactured that the presence of noxious and other hazardous substances and materials as constituents of the packaging material or of any of the packaging components is minimized with regard to their presence in emissions, ash or leachate when packaging or residues from management operations or packaging waste are incinerated or landfilled.

Specific requirements to the reusable nature of packaging:

The following requirements must be simultaneously satisfied:

• the physical properties and characteristics of the packaging shall enable a number of trips or rotations in normally predictable conditions of use,
• possibility of processing the used packaging in order to meet health and safety requirements for the workforce,
• fulfil the requirements specific to recoverable packaging when the packaging is no longer reused and thus becomes waste.

Specific requirements to the recoverable nature of packaging:

Packaging recoverable in the form of material recycling

Packaging must be manufactured in such a way as to enable the recycling of a certain percentage by weight of the materials used into the manufacture of marketable products, in compliance with current standards in the Community. The establishment of this percentage may vary, depending on the type of material of which the packaging is composed.

Packaging recoverable in the form of energy recovery

Packaging waste processed for the purpose of energy recovery shall have a minimum inferior calorific value to allow optimization of energy recovery.

Packaging recoverable in the form of composting

Packaging waste processed for the purpose of composting shall be of such a biodegradable nature that it does not hinder the separate collection and the composting process or activity into which it is introduced.

Biodegradable packaging

Biodegradable packaging waste shall be of such a nature that it is capable of undergoing physical, chemical, thermal or biological decomposition such that most of the finished compost ultimately decomposes into carbon dioxide, biomass and water. Oxo-degradable plastic packaging shall not be considered as biodegradable.

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