Further delays with the adoption of the PPWD proposal

The revision of the Packaging and Packaging Waste Directive (PPWD), initially expected for July 2022, has been further delayed.  According to the latest available College agenda, the second part of the Circular Economy Package, which includes the Commission’s proposal for the revision of the PPWD, should be published on 30 November 2022.

WHAT DID YOU MISS?

• 30 May 2022: The European Commission (DG ENV) and the consultancy Eunomia hosted on 30 May 2022 a workshop on the revision of the PPWD, aiming to provide an update about the impact assessment and review of the Directive. The online workshop was attended by more than 900 stakeholders.
  • On this occasion, the Commission presented the main policy measures that are currently being evaluated across all intervention areas of the review, namely: prevention and reuse, recyclability and compostability, recycled content and enabling measures (incl. labelling requirements, Deposit Return Systems, hazardousness and Green Public Procurement criteria for packaging).
  • The stakeholder workshop was also the opportunity to discuss the possible change of legal instrument of the PPWD, turning it into a Regulation to ensure better harmonisation of measures at EU level. While EUROPEN is supportive of such a change, it will only make sense and be effective if the Regulation’s provisions are clearly defined in the legislative text for maximum harmonisation across the Member States, ensuring that a robust legislative framework is developed with limited possibilities for national diverging measures to be introduced.

WHAT’S NEXT?

• July - October 2022: Submission of the revised impact assessment to the Regulatory Scrutiny Board; drafting of the proposal.
• 30 November 2022: Publication of the European Commission Circular Economy Package II, including a proposal for the revision of the PPWD.