On 30 November 2022, the European Commission published the second part of its Circular Economy package introducing, amongst others, its proposal for the revision of the Packaging and Packaging Waste Directive (PPWD).
One of the key elements introduced by the European Commission proposal is a change in legal instrument: the proposal would turn the current Packaging and Packaging Waste Directive (PPWD) into a packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR), making PPWD an obsolete term and PPWR the new acronym.
The move from a Directive to a Regulation would leave untouched the current internal market legal basis but means that the PPWR obligations and requirements apply directly to economic operators within the EU.
PPWD vs PPWR
The PPWR Draft Regulation (PPWR) repeals and expands the scope of the PPWD by implementing new provisions to tackle the following items:
- excessive use of packaging
- low recycling rates across the EU
- low share of recycled material in new packaging
- new requirements for the extended producer responsibility
- collection, treatment and recycling of packaging waste
PPWR will apply to types of packaging regardless of the material used, and to all packaging waste, whether such waste is used in or originates from industry, other manufacturing, retail or distribution, offices, services or households,
In short: it will require many economic operators to redesign their packaging approaches.