Read the full article by Julia Payne (Reuters)
“BRUSSELS, Aug 11 (Reuters) – New EU packaging regulations will come into force on Wednesday which set EU-wide limits on PFAS, or ‘forever chemicals’, in food-contact packaging and set targets to cut the bloc’s waste, especially of oil-derived plastics.
The law revamps rules dating back to the 1990s to handle the sharp increase in packaging waste – up over 20% in the last decade – driven by online shopping and ‘grab and go’ consumption habits.
Packaging accounts for about 40% of plastic consumption in Europe, an EU official told reporters at a briefing, creating an economic dependence and vulnerability to major oil outages such as from the Iran war.
Europeans generate 180 kg of packaging waste per person per year, the official said. According to Eurostat, 35.3 kg of this waste was fossil-fuel derived plastic and only 42% was recycled in 2023.”…