APEAL, The Association of European Producers of Steel for Packaging, has ‘cautiously welcomed’ the general approach of the newly published Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR) by the European Commission.
Alexis Van Maercke, secretary general of APEAL, said, “Packaging plays an essential role in protecting and preserving resources such as food and reducing waste. But the value of this role can be obscured by the impact of poor recyclability and ineffective recycling. APEAL believes the European Commission has taken a bold step to address some of these issues through this revised PPWR legislation.
“The transition to a regulation that acknowledges, and rewards, real recycling is an important step in the drive to achieve a truly circular economy.”
APEAL added that it welcomes the introduction of so-called ‘recyclability performance grades’. Depending on its recyclability, packaging would be awarded a grade ranging from A to E. When labelled as E, the packaging format would have to be phased out within a certain time limit.
However, APEAL claimed that more needs to be done to achieve the Commission’s objective that all packaging on the EU market be reusable or recyclable in an economically viable way by 2030, as stipulated by the Green Deal and the Circular Economy Action Plan (CEAP) 2.0.
The association said packaging should be designed so it is recyclable in an economically viable way by 2030, but also be ‘effectively and efficiently’ recycled at scale by that date. Furthermore, APEAL is calling for minimum recyclability criteria to be introduced for all packaging, ensuring a ‘level playing field’ across all materials.
APEAL also welcomed the EC’s ambition to link the eco-modulation of Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) fees with the recyclability performance grades. The association believes that permanent materials such as steel, that can be recycled again and again, should be rewarded over those that cannot be recycled or only be recycled a limited number of times.
APEAL said it was also pleased that mandatory recycled content targets are proposed to boost the uptake of certain recyclates with ‘low demand’, and not for materials such as steel which are already highly recycled and where demand for scrap exceeds supply.
To fully close the loop, APEAL said it is now ‘essential’ to eliminate loopholes in the waste management process and set out an ambitious approach to phasing out the landfill of recyclable resources in the forthcoming review of the Waste Framework and Landfill directives.
“Steel scrap is simply too valuable to end up in landfill,” Mr Van Maercke added.
