12 December 2022

Regulatory action: Afera addresses revised PPWD, Circular Economy Package Part 2 ultimately presented without negative list

Negative list of packaging characteristics will prevent a circular economy for packaging

Afera expressed concern over the plans of the European Commission to propose a negative list of packaging characteristics within the revised Packaging and Packaging Waste Directive (PPWD). In a statement shared with the services of the Commission on 27 October 22, Afera pointed out that the list does not seem to be based on the most up-to-date developments on materials and recycling. Its presence would hinder further development of recycling technologies, and the legal process for its implementation would fail to provide regulatory certainty to industry. Instead, Afera proposes to strengthen the definition of criteria for Design for Recycling in a technology agnostic manner.

Read Afera’s position paper in response to the revised PPWD

Circular Economy Package Part 2 ultimately presented without negative list

On 5 December, as was expected, the European Commission presented their Circular Economy Package Part 2, including the proposal for the revision of the Packaging and Packaging Waste Directive (which is proposed to be turned into a Regulation – thus PPWR), the policy framework on biobased, biodegradable and compostable plastics, and the certification of carbon removals. The presentation of the proposal for substantiation of green claims was postponed to 2023.

Concerning the PPWR, the presented proposal and annexes introduced some changes compared with the latest leaked text, but the negative list discussed above is not present in it. Afera is currently reviewing the released documents and will provide more feedback when available.

Please find below a collection of relevant documentation: