Opening remarks by Executive Vice-President Timmermans and Commissioner Sinkevičius at the press conference on the Circular Economy Package

Executive Vice-President Timmermans

Good afternoon to all of you,

Virginijus and I are pleased to present our proposals on packaging waste, biobased, biodegradable and compostable plastics, and carbon removals.

Let me start with packaging and plastics.

A few years ago, we started to make plastics fully circular, limiting and even banning some of the most polluting single-use plastics. You know the examples: straws, cutlery, cups, plates, food containers etc.

Today, we are taking the next step by putting the entire packaging sector firmly on track towards circularity. The way goods are packaged can and should be done a lot better.

I think everyone has experienced it: you order something online and it comes in a massive box that's half empty, or contains double layers to make the product look larger than it is. Or you go to a café and instead of being served on regular plates, you get food in single-use containers so you leave behind a mountain of waste.

Such overpackaging is a nuisance to us and increasingly damaging to our environment.

So our proposal aims to do three things:

First, we reduce packaging where it makes sense. Think about limits on overpackaging in online retail, and no packaging for smaller quantities of fresh fruits and vegetables.

Second, we want more packaging to be reusable. Because we cannot recycle ourselves out of a growing stream of waste. And reusable packaging, in a well-functioning reuse system, is better for the environment than single-use options. Going forward, businesses will have to offer some products in reusable and refillable packaging. For example, by 2040 most coffees-to-go will come in a reusable cup, or a cup we bring ourselves.

And third, all packaging should be easy to recycle, and made as much as possible from recycled material.

A single, harmonized label for all packaging will tell you how and in which bin to recycle it. And Member States will have to implement deposit return schemes for plastic bottles and metal cans.

And before moving to our other proposals, let me add a few words in Italian.

Se l'obiettivo e diminuire i rifiuti di materiale di imballaggio e quindi anche il materiale di imballaggio usato, il riutilizzo degli imballaggi e chiaramente uno dei modi migliori per raggiungere questo obiettivo.

Oggi stiamo finalmente stabilendo le condizioni per promuovere questa pratica in tutta Europa, nei settori dove il riutilizzo ha senso. Perché il riutilizzo ha benefici ambientali maggiori del monouso. E, detto questo, non tutte le pratiche di riciclo funzionano veramente bene.

Ma il riutilizzo non e in competizione con il riciclo. Abbiamo bisogno di entrambi gli strumenti come di piu impianti per il trattamento dei rifiuti. Nessuno vuole mettere fine alle pratiche di riciclo che funzionano bene o mettere in pericolo gli investimenti sottostanti.

Io so che in Italia moltissimo gia e stato fatto sul riciclo, e vogliamo ancora di piu, non di meno. Dunque non c'e una concorrenza fra i due approcci.

Virginijus will tell you more about biobased and biodegradable plastics. These plastics may seem to be ‘green' by default, but such claims only apply under specific circumstances.

Our new framework clarifies to producers and consumers alike the exact conditions for these plastics to be actually good for the environment.

Now finally: carbon removals.

To become climate neutral, deep and drastic emissions cuts will always be the core of our efforts.

But it is impossible to bring all of our emissions down to zero. So we will need carbon removals as well, through technology or natural carbon sinks.

The certification framework for carbon removals ensures that whenever a ton of carbon is said to have been taken from the atmosphere, we can verify that claim: trust, but verify. Has it actually happened, is it additional to a business-as-usual scenario, and is it effectively stored?

We want carbon removals to offer new and additional sources of income for the many farmers who are eager to do more for biodiversity, but struggle to find the necessary funding to do so.

With this carbon removal certification, financial support will flow to those farmers, foresters and land managers who choose practices with considerable additional benefits to biodiversity – our certification will not embrace the creation of new monocultures just because they store a lot of carbon.

Finally, industry will need a source of carbon that is not based on fossil fuels, for example to make plastics, rubbers or certain chemicals. Our proposal today ensures that carbon bound in such products can be effectively certified.

So, it's about quantification, it's about the additionally of the measures – so it is not in competition with other measures, it adds to it – it has to lead to long term storage, and it has to improve sustainability.

Thank you.

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"Checked against delivery"

Commissioner Sinkevičius

Hello everybody,

This morning the Commission adopted two major initiatives that will help make the EU economy more circular and carbon neutral in the longer term.

In the European Green Deal, we promised to ensure that all packaging in the EU market is reusable or recyclable in an economically viable manner by 2030.

Today we're making good on that promise.

At the same time, w are also bringing some much-needed clarity to the question of biobased, biodegradable and compostable plastics.

To start with packaging, the need for change is obvious.

On one hand, packaging recycling continues to increase, as it has done for the past ten years, which is very good news of course. But on the other hand, the waste we generate is actually growing faster than recycling.

In 2020, 65% of packaging waste was recycled. This means that still 35% is incinerated, landfilled or even littered. This equals nearly 30 million tonnes of materials lost. This is the problematic part of the packaging waste that we address today.

If we don't stop these trends, the volume of plastic waste could increase by 46 percent by 2030. So we need systemic change.

These proposals aim at “less waste, more value” in the packaging sector and in the whole economy. They will bring a lot of innovation in the way goods are delivered to us, in reuse and refill, where the green and digital solutions can create many local jobs.

All this is good news to citizens: with the new rules in place, each consumer will be able to save 100 euro per year.

For the first time we're establishing targets for packaging waste reduction for Member States, and mandatory reuse targets for selected packaging groups for economic operators.

Let us talk numbers.

Firstly, the headline targets are to gradually reduce packaging by 15% by 2040 per Member State, compared to 2018.

This would lead to an overall waste reduction in the EU of almost 20% already by 2030 compared to a scenario where we don't change the legislation and waste generation keeps on rising.

Secondly, for reuse, we're looking at mandatory targets for companies to reuse or refill packaging, in sectors like beverages and takeaway meals. In the same time, we establish exemptions for microenterprises.

Thirdly, we're also talking about mandatory deposit return systems for plastic bottles and aluminium cans. There is an opt out possibility, but under strict conditions: if 90% can be collected by other means.

And finally, we're proposing to reduce packaging to the minimum: what we need are the goods, not the waste. And to ban packaging that is clearly unnecessary, like miniature shampoo bottles in hotels. There is a lot of opportunity in reducing packaging in food services too.

If we want real change, we have to start with design.

So we are also proposing to set criteria for packaging design. This will ensure that reusable packaging supports efficient systems for reuse. We will also have a verification system to ensure packaging is designed to be fully recyclable in practice.

We want to see a mandatory amount of recycled content in new plastic packaging. We have to create demand for all this plastic waste, which poses huge environmental burdens.

In order to help consumers to be more sustainable, we will clear up confusion on which packaging belongs to which recycling bin.

Every piece of packaging will carry a label making it clear in which waste stream it should go. Waste collection containers will carry the same labels.

The same symbols will be used everywhere in the EU.

And lastly, we all have seen packaging that claims to be compostable. We will ensure that it really is, while limiting it only to few types of packaging, such as the stickers you find on fruit and vegetables or thin plastic bags.

That brings me to the second major initiative adopted today, a new policy framework for bio-based, biodegradable and compostable plastics.

These plastics are more and more common. They are presented as viable alternatives to conventional plastics, but we need to be clear about the added value.

Products labelled ‘bioplastics', ‘biobased', ‘biodegradable' and ‘compostable' are all different, and they all present different challenges and opportunities.

If you call something biodegradable, you will need to spell out how it biodegrades, under which circumstances, and where. Biodegradable should in no case be a licence to litter.

On compostable plastics, there is an important difference between materials that are compostable at home, and those that require industrial facilities. This has to be clear to consumers.

Last but not least, we need to ensure that bio-based plastics deliver on their promise. It is important that consumers know to what extent such products contribute to a sustainable substitution of fossil resources, and be sure there is no harm to the environment.

So these two proposals will bring benefits to environment, to consumers who are tired of over packaging and give a start for a lot of innovation in the green and digital transition of the packaging sector.

Thank you and I am ready to answer your questions.