New EU Packaging Regulation: Impact on Norwegian Mortgage System and Beverage Producers

A new packaging regulation will be adopted by the EU Parliament on Wednesday. It is currently unclear what impact it will have on the Norwegian mortgage system.

But according to a spokesperson for the EU Parliament, Norwegian beverage producers need not worry about the investment scheme.

– The aim of the EU is not to destroy systems that work, giving reassurance to the person involved in NTB.

Later on Wednesday, the new packaging regulation, according to each solar brand, will be adopted by the EU Parliament. Then all that remains is formal approval from the EU Council of Ministers before the regulation comes into force.

Concerned business

Recently, both business and politicians are on it show strong concern because the new EU regulations will mean that Norwegian plastic bottle makers will have to return to good old fashioned bottle washing.

The new regulation requires a so-called ten percent reuse of beverage packaging that is put out on the market.

This is something that in Norway has gone away in the last 10-15 years. Instead, plastic bottles and cans are pressed together before the material is sent for recycling.

A reuse scheme in addition to that would cost large sums in turnover and that would mean more emissions in the form of laundry and transport.

Exceptions can be made

But according to the spokesperson of the EU Parliament, the new rules do not apply if it is registered by 2026 that 80 percent of bottles and cans are collected.

– They will not have to set up a return system for reuse if they can demonstrate that current use is good enough to achieve the goal, says the spokesperson.

In Norway, the return rate for the most common type of soda bottles, known as PET bottles, is already up to 97 percent, according to NHO.

However, there is uncertainty about what the new rules will be. The big question is whether the reuse requirement will still be there.

The effects were not considered

– We are working to find out what the rules mean, said the head of the NHO office in Brussels, Anne Margrethe Lund, to NTB.

The government, for its part, welcomes the new management with great calmness.

– For the most part, the Norwegian mortgage system will remain, says Minister of Climate and Environment Andreas Bjelland Eriksen to NTB.

– But just as we are going to implement the reuse requirement, we must return to. But I am sure we will find a good solution, he says.

As far as NTB is aware, the Norwegian authorities have not yet assessed the outcome or the chances of exemption from the directive.

Not to disposable packaging

Another part of the management, however, will be very obvious to users in the future.

From 2030, it will be forbidden to serve food in disposable packaging in restaurants and cafes.

The purpose is to reduce the mountain of waste from, for example, fast food restaurants. The regulation will also ensure that far more of the plastic and paper in the packaging is collected and reused.

The regulation also covers single-use plastic around food items such as vegetables, as well as single-use portions of sauces, sugar, spices and milk, and small versions of decorative items and plastic bag seals.

Incremental cuts

In 2018, the packaging industry had a turnover of around 355 billion euros. At the same time, the amount of packaging waste increased from 66 million tons in 2009 to 85 million tons in 2021.

In 2021, each European will generate 188.7 kilograms of waste from packaging. Without measures, this would have increased to 209 kilograms in 2030.

The new regulation calls for the waste rate to be cut by 5 percent by 2030 from the 2018 level. This will increase to 10 percent in 2035 and 15 percent in 2040.

The regulation is relevant to the EEA, and Norway has incorporated previous EU legislation in this area.

(©NTB)¨

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