{"id":33963,"date":"2023-08-21T08:15:16","date_gmt":"2023-08-21T07:15:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.innovationnewsnetwork.com\/?p=33963"},"modified":"2023-12-13T15:03:13","modified_gmt":"2023-12-13T15:03:13","slug":"building-circular-economy-plastic-packaging-waste-and-regulation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.innovationnewsnetwork.com\/building-circular-economy-plastic-packaging-waste-and-regulation\/33963\/","title":{"rendered":"Building a circular economy: Plastic packaging waste and regulation"},"content":{"rendered":"

At present, each person living in the EU generates 34.6kg of plastic packaging waste<\/a> a year on average, though only 38% of that is recycled<\/a>.<\/h2>\n

In response to the scale and urgency of the EU\u2019s waste problem, the European Commission launched its final proposal on packaging and waste<\/a>, which, if accepted, will accelerate the EU\u2019s goal<\/a> to make all packaging reusable or recyclable by 2030.<\/p>\n

Poor recycling rates are partly due to the many complexities of recycling certain types and applications of plastic packaging waste. The Food Packaging Forum<\/a>, for example, deems plastic food-grade packaging as having limited recyclability options.<\/p>\n

Besides PET, it reports that most other plastic food packaging is either downcycled or not recycled<\/a>, citing the lack of waste collection and separation schemes and insufficient decontamination processes.<\/p>\n

The EU\u2019s Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation proposal, has the potential to reduce neither recyclable packaging materials nor recycled at scale and instead work towards a circular economy.<\/p>\n

Putting an end to plastic packaging waste<\/h3>\n

\u00a0<\/strong>The Packaging & Packaging Waste Regulation is extensive and will transform the trajectory of packaging when passed. It introduces the following requirements:<\/p>\n