European plastic packaging producers have voiced their concern over the non-compliance of some EU member-states in the implementation of EU’s directive on single-use plastics (SUP), according to the European Plastic Converters (EuPC, Brussels / Belgium; www.plasticsconverters.eu).

The EuPC also criticised efforts taken by some European countries either to arbitrarily make their own exemptions to the SUP directive or even tighten the rules. The directive, passed by the European Parliament in 2019, bans certain disposable plastic products from being sold across Europe – 27 member-states are required to transpose the EU directive into national laws from 3 July 2021.

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So far, only 11 states have implemented the bans on drinking straws, certain take-away packaging made of EPS etc, the EuPC said, noting that the labelling directive for single-use beverage cups applies only in five states. Not too long ago, seven European cup manufacturers had filed an “action for annulment” against the EU’s labelling requirements (see Plasteurope.com of 19.04.2021). The association also criticised “several” countries for attempting to introduce country-specific labelling regulations, as well as more far-reaching bans for fruit and vegetable packaging. In France, for example, the sale of unprocessed fresh products in SUP packaging is banned from 1 January 2022 onwards (see Plasteurope.com of 20.10.2021). And in Spain similar regulations are planned – envisaged to take effect in 2023 (see Plasteurope.com of 28.09.2021).

The EuPC believes that because the 2019 directive was adopted in a great hurry, many of the provisions remained unclear (see Plasteurope.com of 11.06.2021). “The Commission’s guidelines on the scope of the directive, published only four weeks before the deadline, have brought little clarity for implementation.”

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EuPC, German packaging’ association Industrievereinigung Kunststoffverpackungen (IK, Bad Homburg; www.kunststoffverpackungen.de) and Belgian chemicals and plastics federation essenscia (Brussels; www.essenscia.be) have joined forces to evaluate the implementation of SUP across EU member-states. Oliver Van Volden, expert, packaging and circular economy at the plastics division, essenscia PolyMatters, said, “The room for interpretation leads to unexpected bias, e.g. banning fully recyclable plastics while excluding paper products coated with plastics in contradiction with the directive, and based on existing allowance for contaminants in EPR schemes.”