Metal Packaging Europe says the provisions on reuse in the proposal for a regulation on Packaging and Packaging Waste endanger the competitiveness of the European food and beverage industry and its packaging value chain. 

It believes they fail to acknowledge that both reusable and highly recyclable one-way packaging are complementary and necessary means to achieve the circular economy goals of the EU Green Deal. The former should not replace or compromise the latter.

“Metal Packaging Europe (MPE) continues to question setting reusable targets when, at the time of publication, there is no scientific evidence to confirm that reusable packaging always delivers better overall performance than optimised one-way packaging systems which achieve high recycling rates”, said Leonie Knox-Peebles, CEO of Metal Packaging Europe. 

Before setting reuse targets for 2040, and in the spirit of fair competition, Metal Packaging Europe asked the Commission that the positive impact of reuse on the environment be critically assessed.

With a recycling rate of 85.5% for steel packaging and one close to 76% for aluminium beverage cans with an ambition to reach 100% by 20303, the metal packaging industry welcomed the introduction of performance grades to assess the recyclability of packaging and the specific reference in the text to eco-modulation of extended producer responsibility (EPR) fees to incentivise the production and use of sustainable packaging.

The industry appreciates and asked for ambitious minimum requirements to ensure well-functioning deposit return systems (DRS) for beverage packaging. 

However, Metal Packaging Europe says those presented in the proposal fall short of guaranteeing a level playing field and high collection targets among all materials, with transparent reporting and no cross-subsidisation.

It also added that this proposal contains a large number of definitions; some should be clearer, more concise and more consistent and also it is important to ensure that definitions do not contradict existing legislation.