{"id":34577,"date":"2025-03-23T12:47:39","date_gmt":"2025-03-23T11:47:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.co2news.sk\/?p=34577"},"modified":"2025-03-23T12:48:13","modified_gmt":"2025-03-23T11:48:13","slug":"what-are-the-key-requirements-of-the-ppwr-and-what-extensive-options-do-national-governments-have-to-strengthen-them","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.co2news.sk\/en\/2025\/03\/23\/what-are-the-key-requirements-of-the-ppwr-and-what-extensive-options-do-national-governments-have-to-strengthen-them\/","title":{"rendered":"What are the key requirements of the PPWR and what broad options do national governments have to strengthen them?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>Key requirements of the Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR)<\/strong>, which entered into force on 11 February 2025 and will apply from 12 August 2026, cover a number of areas aimed at reducing<!--more--> the amount of packaging waste and improving its sustainability. The main requirements include:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Packaging waste reduction targets<\/strong>: Binding targets are set for the reduction of packaging waste at EU level, namely 5 % by 2030, 10 % by 2035 and 15 % by 2040, with 2018 as the baseline.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Reuse goals<\/strong>: The PPWR introduces binding reuse targets for different types of packaging by 2030 and recommended targets by 2040, covering transport and sales packaging (including e-commerce), group packaging and beverage packaging (alcoholic and non-alcoholic). For the HORECA sector, there is an obligation to offer takeaway food and beverages in a reuse system.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Refill obligations<\/strong>: The HORECA sector must accept that consumers bring their own containers to fill drinks and take-away meals by 17 February 2027. Retailers with a sales area of over 400 m\u00b2 should aim to allocate 10 % of their sales area to refill stations for both food and non-food products by January 2030.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Restrictions on certain types of packaging<\/strong>: The PPWR introduces marketing bans for certain types of single-use packaging, in particular plastic, such as group packaging, fruit and vegetable packaging, packaging used in HORECA premises and others.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Substances of concern and microplastics<\/strong>: The regulation requires the minimization of the presence and concentration of hazardous chemicals (\u201csubstances of concern\u201d) in any material or component of any packaging. It also introduces a ban on the use of PFAS in food packaging, effective August 12, 2026.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Separate collection and backup systems (DRS)<\/strong>: The PPWR sets a target of 90 % of separate collection of plastic bottles and cans by 2029, recognising that this target can only be achieved through the implementation of DRS.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Recyclability and recycled content<\/strong>: All packaging placed on the EU market must be recyclable, with details to be set out in implementing legislation. Targets for recycled content in plastic packaging are also being introduced.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Extensive options for national governments to strengthen PPWR<\/strong>:<\/p>\n<p>Although the PPWR is an EU regulation with direct effect, it provides <strong>Member States have considerable scope to adopt more ambitious measures<\/strong> to reduce packaging waste, adapted to their specific national context. These options include:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Taking additional measures<\/strong>: Member States may adopt <strong>additional packaging measures<\/strong>, which are appropriate to their national context, in order to achieve the objectives of the Regulation, such as the objectives of packaging waste prevention, as long as they do not constitute unjustified and disproportionate barriers to the single market.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Maintaining stricter national requirements<\/strong>: Member States may <strong>maintain existing national sustainability requirements<\/strong> other than those set out in the PPWR, as long as they do not conflict with the PPWR or restrict the placing on the market of packaging that complies with the Regulation. For example, they may maintain existing bans on single-use plastics for fruit and vegetable packaging and on beverage and food packaging consumed in HORECA establishments until 1 January 2030.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Strengthening waste prevention<\/strong>: Member States should further address <strong>unnecessary packaging<\/strong> by introducing additional measures to promote reuse and to widely enable refilling. They can introduce <strong>fiscal and other economic incentives<\/strong>, which will incentivise reuse and discourage single-use packaging, such as environmental taxes or charges on economic operators, consumer charges or negative modulation of Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) charges. These funds should be earmarked to support reuse and waste prevention measures. Examples include the T\u00fcbingen charge in Germany or the Belgian packaging tax.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Support for reuse<\/strong>: National governments can set <strong>higher reuse targets<\/strong> for the three sectors included in the PPWR and even for other sectors such as the takeaway sector. They may also stipulate that <strong>reusable packaging should be the default option<\/strong> for take-away food and drinks and should be mandatory at public events and in institutions.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Extension of replenishment obligations<\/strong>: Member States may <strong>make the 10 % target mandatory for retailers or even increase it<\/strong> and extend the replenishment obligation to all businesses providing HORECA services, including retailers selling ready-to-eat meals.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Addressing substances of concern and microplastics<\/strong>: National governments can <strong>implement national bans on the most dangerous chemicals in packaging<\/strong> and invest in early identification of substances that negatively impact reuse and recycling. They can also support the development of analytical tools to identify and quantify emitted microplastics.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Implementation and strengthening of backup systems (DRS)<\/strong>: Member States should introduce DRS <strong>as soon as possible<\/strong> and they can <strong>expand the scope of the system<\/strong> o other types of packaging (e.g. carton drinks, single-use glass) and exclude content-based exemptions (e.g. all types of milk, alcoholic beverages). They may also <strong>introduce &quot;mixed DRS&quot;<\/strong>, which will also include reusable packaging, and provide fiscal incentives to support the shift from single-use to reusable packaging within the system. Coordination with neighbouring Member States is also important to ensure the interoperability of systems.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Support for recycling and recycled content<\/strong>: National authorities may establish <strong>stricter recyclability criteria<\/strong>that ensure that the recyclate is safe and economical. They should thoroughly verify the definition of &quot;innovative packaging&quot; and mandate <strong>independent third-party audit for all recycled content claims<\/strong>They can also strengthen EPR systems to promote efficient and local recycling.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Overall, the PPWR provides a broad framework within which national governments can take ambitious measures beyond the EU&#039;s minimum requirements to more effectively combat the packaging waste crisis and support the transition to a circular economy. <em><strong>Spring<\/strong><\/em><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The key requirements of the Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR), which entered into force on 11 February 2025 and will apply from 12 August 2026, include a number of areas aimed at reducing<\/p>","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-34577","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-klimaticka-zmena"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.co2news.sk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34577","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.co2news.sk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.co2news.sk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.co2news.sk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.co2news.sk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=34577"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.co2news.sk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34577\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.co2news.sk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=34577"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.co2news.sk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=34577"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.co2news.sk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=34577"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}