On March 4, 2024, the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union announced they have come to a provisional agreement on the proposed new Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR). European Commission negotiators will continue to finalize the details until March 7th before sending the document back to the Parliament and Council.

According to the Parliament’s press release, some of the main points agreed at this time concerning food contact applications include:

    Ban per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in food packaging
    Reduce packaging
        5% by 2030, 10% by 2035 and 15% by 2040, with a specific focus on reducing plastic packaging waste
        Ban packaging unprocessed fresh produce by 2030 (FPF reported)
        Require reusables when food or drink consumed within a restaurant by 2030
        No individual packaged portions of condiments by 2030
    Support reuse and refill  
        At least 10% reusable beverage packaging by 2030 (except milk, wine, and spirits)
        10% of takeaway food and drinks in reusable packaging by 2030; consumers can bring their own container to restaurants
        Access to tap water in reusable or refillable formats
    Structure waste management
        Single use plastic and metal beverage containers in separate deposit-return systems (FPF reported)
        Recycled content targets for plastic packaging (FPF reported)
        Recyclability and recycling targets by weight

The PPWR negotiation process has been the most lobbied (FPF reported), and most contentiously lobbied (FPF reported) proposed policy in the EU’s history. Packaging production, use, and waste touches on many sectors with differing ideas on the direction the Union should take (FPF reported).  

In late February 2024, the European Parliament adopted stricter rules for the management of plastic waste, banning export to non-OECD countries and creating stricter rules for export to non-EU OECD countries. The combined changes in PPWR recycling targets and plastic waste shipments may bring considerable change to the waste management systems in Europe over the next few years.