Parliament votes to water down EU’s packaging waste law

The European Parliament adopted its position Wednesday (22 November) on legislation to reduce packaging waste, weakening some key measures on the table following a tense debate on the role of reuse, recycling and bans.

Each European produces 190 kilograms of packaging waste yearly, something the new law aimed to reverse with a renewed push on recycling and new targets on reuse and waste prevention. However, lawmakers voted to weaken some of these measures, including on reuse and bans for unnecessary packaging, following political division and intense lobbying.

In the end, the Parliament’s stance on the law was passed with 426 votes in favour, 125 against and 74 abstentions, after “a very difficult vote”, according to Nils Torvalds, a Finnish centrist MEP who is one of the lead lawmakers on the file.

With the Parliament’s position now adopted, negotiations can start with EU member states to finalise the law in so-called trilogue talks also involving the European Commission.

Source: ECEEE