The European Union (EU) parliament approved the new Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR) on April 24, 2024, promoting reusable packaging material.

This breakthrough comes three years after information emerged that each EU inhabitant discards 188.7 kilograms of plastic waste annually. 

After heated debates, 476 EU MEPs voted in favor of the regulation against 129 dissenters, with 24 abstainers.

A month earlier in March 2024, the 27-member states had agreed to reach several milestones in the next decade. First there will be a 5% reduction in single-use packaging by 2030, 10% by 2035 and 15% by 2040. The latter target parallels a February 2024 EU resolution to cut greenhouse emissions across the bloc by 90% by 2040.

The main target, however, is to limit the use of plastic packaging that consumers only use once and throw away.

Agricultural Product Packaging Ban

Agriculture is among the biggest target industries for single-use plastic packaging and it will consequently attract the most bans.

Starting January 2030, the EU will forbid the use of single-plastic wrapping for unprocessed vegetables in market stores.

Likewise, cafés will no longer sell their food or wrap condiments such as salt in single-use wrapping material.

Beverage Packaging Recycling

Similar to fresh food, beverages that sell in containers will also from January 2030 come in recyclable containers.

Single-use metallic beer containers below 3 liters will also undergo collection every now and then for smelting.

Because milk, wine and dairy product packaging will be exempt from the recycling rule, these beverages will henceforth need content labeling.

Bans Outside Agriculture

It’s not just the food sector that will attract bans but the hospitality and retail sectors, too. For instance, hotels will dispense with small toilet paper wrappings and shops will no longer sell commodities in ultra-thin packaging material. 

PPWR Debate Carries On

PPWR has been a salient issue since April 2023 and has attracted debate from hoteliers, packaging manufacturers, environmentalists and governments. 

In September 2023, analysts from the hospitality sector gave the example of plastic cups to show how recycling can be complex. Kiarney Consultancy showed that a packaging material needs to be reusable fifty times to be environmentally better than a plastic cup. 

The PPWR debate continues even after the passing of the law and what remains now is intergovernmental implementation.