The revision of the Waste Framework Directive, a European proposal aiming to protect the environment through the management of waste in line with the waste hierarchy, is expected to be adopted in 2023.
RPE entirely supports the European Commission in its ambition to further reduce waste generation and draws a special attention to the necessity of respecting the waste hierarchy in its legislative activities, thus recognizing reusable (transport) packaging as one of the most efficient ways to reduce packaging waste.
As such, RPE calls on the European Commission to review the definition of “preparing for reuse” to reflect the practical realities of circular pooling businesses, under which products are “prepared for reuse” without being categorized as “waste”. Additionally, RPE recommends that the Commission exempts pooled reusable transport packaging from an EPR contribution, as waste management processes for RTP are managed via effective individual waste management schemes, and highlights the necessity to legally recognize the benefits of circular products management systems. Finally, to incentivize reuse, RPE advocates for the introduction of binding reuse targets, additionally to recycling targets.
Read our position paper here