The revision of the EU’s packaging rules is a perfect opportunity to put in place a harmonised EU sorting label.
Harmonised labelling matters for the Single Market. But packaging sorting labels are anything but harmonised. We in the toy industry are alarmed by the number of Member States that have developed (and implemented at short notice) unilateral – and often contradictory – rules on how to dispose of packaging waste. Though they are often motivated by environmental concerns, in reality those rules lead to more waste. They force our members to create different packaging for each Member State, use additional stickers or increase packaging size. It also complicates supply chains and reduces flexibility to move unsold goods from one Member State to another where demand is higher.
A harmonised EU label under the revised Packaging and Packaging Waste Directive will put a stop to this – even better if the revised Directive becomes a Regulation. It is now important that, in the period before the new rules enter into law, no specific national labelling requirements are applied.
