Packaging Regulation: ENVI Committee votes

On 24 October, the European Parliament’s Committee on Environment, Public Health and Food Safety (ENVI) adopted the draft report by Frederique Ries on the packaging and packaging waste regulation (PPWR).

The report was adopted with 56 votes in favour, 23 against, and 5 abstentions. MEPs made numerous amendments to the Commission’s proposal.

In total, more than 2,000 amendments were tabled, which were reduced to 25 compromise amendments before the vote. All 25 compromise amendments were adopted.

The committee agreed on important amendments, such as clarifying several timelines for when the European Commission shall adopt which delegated acts mandated in the PPWR – and relating the applicability of the corresponding requirements from the PPWR to those publication dates. Moreover, ENVI proposes setting up a Packaging Forum to be consulted when making delegated acts.

For example, ENVI proposes that the European Commission shall publish the mandated delegated act defining details on the requirements for recyclable packaging from Article 6 by 1 January 2027 – and only following consultation with the Packaging Forum.

The requirements of Article 6 shall then apply 36 months after the publication of this delegated act.

This approach will provide clarity and planning security for the industry and promote stakeholder involvement – amendments that were also requested by Landbell Group company, European Recycling Platform in its position paper from March 2023.

The vote in the plenary is scheduled for 20 November. The result will then form the Parliament’s negotiating position for the subsequent trilogue negotiations with the Commission and the Council of the European Union. However, the latter has yet to define its negotiating mandate.