stop the superfluous. Away with the sachet of sugar and the bottle of shampoo at the hotel – Corriere.it

FROM OUR CORRESPONDENT
BRUSSELS – Goodbye sugar sachets, mini-bottles of liquid soap and shampoo in hotels, single-use packaging for fruit and vegetables and for consumption on the spot in bars and restaurants. Instead we will be able to continue to use compostable tea bags, capsules and coffee pods. The vice-president of the EU Commission with responsibility for the Green Deal Frans Timmermans and the commissioner for the environment Virginijus Sinkevičius presented a new regulation on Wednesday 30 November that will revolutionize the world of packaging focusing on reuse and returnable waste more than on recyclingand aiming at eliminate unnecessary packaging. The goal is to reduce the production of packaging waste which, instead of decreasing, has grown over the years: on average, every European produces almost 180 kilos of it a year.
The green transition will not be painless. The EU Commission admits that jobs in the production of single-use packaging will decrease significantly but also estimates that the new packaging system could lead to creation of 600,000 jobs in the reuse sector by 2030.

Reusable takeaway drinks and deposit for cans

The objective of the new regulation is a 15% per capita cut for each EU country by 2040 of packaging waste compared to 2018 levels, declined with different percentages according to the sectors. The goal will be achieved gradually (5% reduction compared to 2018 by 2030 and 10% by 2035). For example By 2040, 80% of take-out beverage sales should be served in reusable packaging or using customer containers (20% by 2030). The proposal also provides for the introduction of mandatory deposit-refund schemes for plastic bottles and aluminum cans. Furthermore by 2030 all packaging on the EU market must be recyclable and to reduce the need for primary natural resources and create a well-functioning market for secondary raw materials should increase the amount of recycled plastic in packagingthrough goals I winlanti.

The reactions

Even before being officially presented, the regulation has put the European packaging and agri-food industries on a war footing. No one wants to end recycling practices that work well or endanger underlying investments, the vice president said frans Timmermans during the press conference (speaking in Italian). I know that in Italy a lot has already been done on recycling – he added -, we still want more, not less, there is no competition between the two approaches. European, the association representing more than 70 national companies and associations of the European packaging industry, criticized the regulation which risks going against the objectives of the Green deal, turning back the hands of the recycling clock. A demagogic and populist proposal for the former president of Confindustria Antonio D’Amato. The Deputy Minister for the Environment Vannia Gava he defines it as an ideological wall, underlines the absence of openness to confrontation and the inadequacy in the face of situations of excellence such as that of our country and promises battle. For Tiziana Begin, head of the M5S delegation to the EU Parliament, the right path. The MEP Nicholas ProcacciniFdI’s environment and energy manager, promises: We will oppose it in all venues.

The proposal will be examined by the EU Parliament and the Council according to the ordinary legislative procedure. The two institutions will have to separately reach a negotiating position on the Commission’s text, then negotiations will begin to reach an agreement.