New report finds packaging waste declining rapidly in EU states

Higher recycling levels and other forms of packaging waste recovery are driving down the amount of packaging waste going to final disposal, says EUROPEN, the European Organization for Packaging and the Environment. The organization analyzed official EU data, in which 27 EU member states reported that 17 million metric tonnes of packaging were sent for final disposal in 2008. This, the group says, represents a 57 percent reduction of packaging waste going to final disposal over the past 11 years. It also is far less than the 89 million tonnes of food waste, which is five times the amount the reported packaging waste, being disposed in EU states.

An analysis of data from 1998 to 2008 by Europen also shows that growth in packaging waste is decoupling from growth in GDP, an objective of the EU waste strategy. This is despite an ageing population, and a trend throughout Europe towards smaller households (all of which led to the purchase of a greater number of packaged goods) the amount of packaging placed on the market (excluding wood packaging) rose by only 10 percent and the amount of packaging waste disposed of (also excluding wood) actually fell by 57 percent.

The group's finding published in the report--Packaging and Packaging Waste Statistics in Europe 1998-2008--contradicts widely held perceptions that packaging has led to a mountain of waste across Europe. Instead, it confirms an earlier EU Commission assessment of the EU Thematic Strategy on Waste Prevention and Recycling, which showed that packaging waste from households and commercial sources accounts for only about three percent of total waste.

Commenting on the findings in the report, Europen managing director, Julian Carroll says: "The data supports our view that the 1994 Directive on Packaging and Packaging Waste is clearly one of the most successful pieces of EU environmental legislation, something in which all participants can take pride. This is particularly true for consumers who, across the EU, are increasingly accepting the sorting of packaging in their homes for recycling as a routine activity".

The EU Directive set a 2008 recycling target of 55 percent to be reached 12 member states with the remainder including the newer member states to reach the same target between 2011 and 2015. By 2008 three of the remainder had passed the 55 percent target and most others were approaching or already beyond a 50 percent recycling rate.

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