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UKRPEС Participates in Packaging Waste & Sustainability Forum in Brussels, Dedicated to New Regulation Implementation
Participants at this year’s Packaging Waste & Sustainability Forum discussed the prospects of PPWR implementation in EU countries. The new European legislation is also of key importance for future reform in Ukraine.
The Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR), adopted by the Council of the European Union at the end of last year, has become a real revolution for producers of packaging and packaged goods, as well as for all institutions involved in regulating this industry at the European, national, or local levels.
Recently, European producers, government officials, scientists, representatives of industry organizations, and other stakeholders gathered in Brussels for the 32nd annual Packaging Waste & Sustainability Forum. Over three days, participants discussed the key approaches and steps necessary to implement the ambitious requirements set out in the Regulation.
The sole representative from Ukraine at the event was Volodymyr Slabyi, Head of the Executive Committee of UKRPEС. As a reminder, Ukraine has committed to harmonizing its packaging waste management legislation with European standards as part of its European integration efforts. Following the adoption by the EU Council, the PPWR is to become our primary guide, particularly in the context of the future law “On Packaging and Packaging Waste,” which the Verkhovna Rada is expected to consider soon.
Despite the fact that Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) will continue to be the key principle of packaging waste management in the EU, the new Regulation foresees significant changes that will affect all links of this system.
As noted in her presentation by European Commission expert Maja Desgrées du Loû, the PPWR has the following main goals:
- Reduction of packaging waste generation.
- Promotion of the circular economy, particularly through the use of recycled content in packaging.
- Improvement of the functioning of the internal market, including through the unification of the regulatory environment.
The implementation of the new Regulation’s requirements will necessitate coordinated actions by the European Commission and Member States, who must align rules and adopt a whole complex of legislative acts. However, the role of economic operators, i.e., businesses (producers, suppliers, importers, and distributors), who must adapt their activities to the new conditions, is also crucial. The realization of this large-scale program will be phased and is planned for the coming years and even decades.
Among the key measures provided by the PPWR:
- Comprehensive harmonization of Extended Producer Responsibility rules.
- Full alignment of sustainability requirements among Member States (with the exception of composting).
- All packaging must be recyclable by 2030.
- Setting minimum recycled content in plastic packaging.
- Prohibition of harmful substances in packaging by 2030 (heavy metals, PFAS, etc.).
- Packaging waste prevention targets: 5% (2030), 10% (2035), 15% (2040), relative to 2018 waste generation levels.
- Reusable packaging targets for transport packaging, e-commerce, and retail packaging for beverages.
- Prohibition of certain types of single-use packaging.
- Establishment of deposit return systems for cans and plastic bottles (mandatory for Member States).
- Unified labeling for sorting of packaging waste.
- Setting an empty space ratio – a maximum of 50% for grouped, transport, and e-commerce packaging.
- Takeaway food establishments must provide customers with the option to bring their own containers (by 2027), implement reuse by 2028, and aim for 10% of products to be in reusable packaging by 2030.
“The new Regulation is truly a revolution. And I say this without exaggeration. A revolution is when you don’t just need to improve what exists, but in a sense forget everything that was and start from a new foundation. Much has already been done in Europe to implement an effective EPR system. But even for them, the reform is a serious challenge. For Ukraine, of course, this is a future perspective. We haven’t even passed the first stage – creating a system for waste collection and sorting. But we must already work in a way that our first steps meet current European requirements. Old approaches are no longer relevant: the Regulation repeals the previous Packaging and Packaging Waste Directive, which had been in effect since 1994. That’s why I went to Brussels – to understand where Europe is heading, what the requirements will be tomorrow, and how we should build our system today, taking these benchmarks into account,” , – says Volodymyr Slabyi, Head of the Executive Committee of UKRPEC.
The Coalition continues to systematically analyze and inform the domestic audience about new European norms and their significance for Ukraine. On April 16, Volodymyr Slabyi will give a public presentation titled “EU Regulation 2025/40 on Packaging and Packaging Waste – Ambitious Tasks for Packaging Market Participants” at a seminar during the International Forum of Food Industry and Packaging (IFFIP) in Kyiv.
