Recommendations for the revision of the Packaging and Packaging Waste Directive 1994/62/EG : suggestions for strengthening circular economy / by Jasmin Boße, Matthias Fabian, Norman Friedrich, Anja Gerdung, Sonia Grimminger, Samir Kerellaj, Gerhard Kotschik, Franziska Krüger, Ines Oehme, Kim Seifert, Isabel Wagner ; publisher: German Environment Agency, Umweltbundesamt ; responsible unit: Section III 1.6 Plastics and Packaging ; translation: Anja Gerdung, Ines Oehme, Janka Steinert

Abstract

Over the past 10 years, the amount of packaging generated across the EU has increased by almost 18 percent, with around 66 percent of packaging waste being recycled. The revision of the Packaging Directive should therefore primarily help to strengthen waste prevention, the recyclability of packaging and the use of recyclates and further develop information requirements. Material requirements should be stipulated in the Directive itself, supplemented by the possibility to set, if necessary, more extensive requirements for certain types of packaging in downstream legal acts. In a scientific opinion paper, the German Environment Agency presents a regulatory concept and recommendations in this regard.