Negotiations between the Member States and the Parliament are ongoing and amendments to the Commission’s draft PPWR are being tabled (3000 so far).
On the German side, the Federal Council has spoken out against certain exceptions contained in the PPWR. This concerns for instance:
- exemptions from recyclate input quotas for fibre-based packaging;
- the 10-year exemption for “innovative polymers” from the recyclability criteria; and
- the possibility for Member States to introduce higher reuse quotas.
Other proposals that were rejected were:
- to exempt dangerous goods packaging completely from the PPWR and
- to allow renewable raw materials as an alternative to recyclates (keyword bioplastic).
Neither positively nor negatively was the exemption for fibre-based secondary packaging and transport packaging from the reusable quotas assessed by the Federal Council. This is of course evaluated differently by different associations – IK says the Federal Council rejects the exemption, FFI says the Federal Council supports the exemption.
For the Federal Government, which is dealing with the various topics of the PPWR proposal in the Council working groups, the recommendations are not binding, but they are a guideline, especially since the Bundestag has not yet expressed its opinion on the Commission’s PPWR proposal.
The collected recommendations of the Federal Council can be found here.
What is the next step for the PPWR?
The vote in ENVI was postponed from September to 23/24 October, so the vote in Parliament will not take place before the end of November. The agreed draft must then be approved by the Council of the European Union. If this happens as planned, the timetable could be met and the PPWR could enter into force by May 2024.
Our recommendation
If you would like to know right now whether – and if so, how – the PPWR will influence your business model, we would be happy to support you with a short check.
Our PPWR-Impact-Check not only shows you the regulatory requirements, but also which specific strategic issues you need to work on.
