FEAD among organizations seeking EU clarity

The European Waste Management Association (FEAD) is part of a coalition asking the European Commission to make public its draft Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR), so stakeholders and citizens can provide feedback on it.

FEAD, based in Brussels, says in mid-October, a working draft copy of the EC draft PWR was leaked to the public. “Since then, there has been a significant outcry by some industry stakeholders, relating to certain sections of the regulation and/or its annex,” according to the organization, which represents private sector waste and recycling companies throughout Europe.

In a letter drafted by FEAD and more than two dozen other organizations and companies, the co-authors write, “While some of the issues raised may have merit and be worthy of further consideration, the official release of the draft PPWR should not be delayed beyond 30 November.”

The letter continues, “The EU legislative process is intended to make proposals better. We support the overall direction and ambition of the proposal and rely on the ordinary legislative process—a democratic process—and urge the European Commission to submit its proposal to the Council and the European Parliament on 30 November as planned so that the ordinary legislative process can begin.”

Other signatories of the letter include pan-European recycling organization the European Recycling Industries’ Confederation (EuRIC), Zero Waste Europe, and technology provider Tomra ASA.

The organizations say delaying the publication of the proposed PPWR beyond November “will make it difficult to finalize the discussions before the end of term of this legislature, creating further legal uncertainty and missing out on an important opportunity for a timely creation of a circular economy for packaging.”

The coalition says it is not necessarily anticipating widespread opposition to the regulation. “The PPWR is in line with Europe’s goals regarding the preservation of resources [that] are packaging materials and avoiding wasting these resources by collecting, processing and recirculating them back into the European economy," it says. "We believe that a well-functioning single market necessitates base standards and requirements that are consistent in all member states, as well as comprehensive. Targets and timelines allow for planning for transition and innovation, as well as offering investment security for European businesses in the business of circular economy.”