Plastic packaging rules give us food for thought
»»EU wants to ban fruit & veg wrapping »»Ireland top of throwaway packing league
It’s positive step in face of intense lobbying by industries GRACE O’SULLIVAN
ON NEW EU RULES
FOOD packaging containing harmful “forever chemicals” PFAS and plastic fruit and veg wrapping could soon be banned in Ireland after the European Council provisionally passed new rules.
Our country generates more throwaway packaging than any other EU nation with 246kg per person per year, over 74kg of which is plastic.
But less than a third of that is recycled, says Irish MEP Grace O’sullivan.
The Green Party politician has welcomed the provisional agreement on the Packaging & Packaging Waste Directive after nine hours of negotiations.
They will also pave the way for the return of glass bottles, make deposit return schemes mandatory and ban on oversized boxes and parcels for small items as well as polystyrene in-fills.
Ms O’sullivan said: “The provisional agreement to reform EU rules on packaging and packaging waste represents a significant win for human health and the environment.
“In the face of intense lobbying from the plastic and chemicals industries, and others who benefit from our single-use, throwaway culture, the EU has set more ambitious targets for reducing packaging waste, and increased the scope of many rules.
“Agreement has been reached that will see PFAS – harmful forever chemicals used in food packaging, banned within 18 months, a ban on plastic wrapping on fruit and veg, mandatory rollout of deposit and return schemes across EU member states, and measures to tackle over-packaging, including a ban on oversized boxes and parcels being used for small items, and a ban on polystyrene in-fills in packaging.
“We will also see a return to reusable glass bottles for beverages such as beer, mineral water and soft drinks, thanks to mandatory reuse targets.
“While I believe that the European Commission’s original proposals were more ambitious in terms of scope, targets and timelines, I welcome this agreement as a positive step.”
Voice Ireland was one 165 NGOS, 295 firms and 34 municipalities which signed the Break Free From Plastic campaign’s #Wechoosetoreuse pledge which was delivered to EC Vice President Frans Timmermans in 2022 ahead of the PPWD review.
Voice Policy Director Abi O’callaghanplatt
said: “We are particularly happy to see bans from 2030 on unnecessary plastic packaging such as singleuse sachets, hotel miniatures, packaging for unprocessed fresh fruit and vegetables, and take-away packaging for food and drinks consumed in cafes and restaurants.
She added: “We are conscious that a move away from single-use plastic is causing higher levels of paper packaging consumption, which is not a real solution.
“It is disappointing the regulation does not include restrictions on other forms of single-use packaging, such as paper/ cardboard, as in the original proposal.
“Although this is the compromised text and has still to be voted on, we think it will result in great strides forward, but we must make sure that we are moving to reuse not other forms of single-use.”