Environment and sustainability – September 2024
Rules and regulations in the Netherlands all info is in Dutch unless stated otherwise
Verpact has announced the new rates (in English) for 2025. The reward for using recyclate will be increased from 10 cents to 20 cents per kilogram. There will also be a lower rate for reusable packaging. Verpact has also published its vision on innovation (1.52 MB). Verpact plans to translate this vision into a concrete innovation programme. Parliamentary questions have been raised about the wave of bankruptcies in the plastic recycling industry. Parliamentary questions have also been raised about the news item - Supermarket “messes” with deposit again, shop denies - by Omroep West. ILT reports that an importer has been fined for selling cans of Red Bull without a deposit. Only 7% of plastic packaging is reused as material for new packaging. The government aims to ensure that by 2050, no packaging is made from (new) fossil-based resources. However, this goal is unachievable without new policies and changes in behaviour from both the packaging industry and consumers, according to research (with English synopsis, 3.41 MB) by RIVM (in English), in collaboration with Utrecht University, Rijkswaterstaat, and TNO.
Rules and regulations outside the Netherlands
Australia: The Australian Packaging Covenant Organisation (APCO) has published its 2030 Strategic Plan, including a membership fee structure to incentivise packaging material circularity. Belgium: IBE-BVI reports that the royal decree to limit the marketing of certain SUPs and increase the recycled content of certain products was published (in Dutch) in the Official Gazette. Denmark: Legislation introducing EPR for certain SUPs as of 10 October 2024 has been published (in Danish). Emballageretur reports that the date for full implementation of the EPR for packaging has been changed to 1 October 2025. The start date for company registration and reporting remains 31 August 2024. Germany: ZSVR has published the 2024 edition of the minimum standard for determining the recyclability of packaging. Ireland: The government has published an EPA study (1.79 MB) on reducing single-use packaging for fruit and vegetables. EPA has also published the findings (611 kB) of a survey on consumer usage and attitudes. Slovakia: A coalition of EU stakeholders, including EUROPEN, has voiced strong concerns about a proposed amendment (in Slovak) to the DRS legislation. US: CRI (169 kB) reports that the redemption rates in more than half of the states with DRS dropped slightly in 2023. Illinois: Governor Pritzker has signed SB2960 banning small SUP bottles in hotels with 50 rooms or more as of 1 July 2025 and in all hotels a year later. Michigan: HB 5902 on an EPR for packaging has been introduced.
Life cycle assessment (LCA)
In a study (2.06 MB) published in Science of the Total Environment, researchers at Sant'Anna School of Advanced Studies identify the most sustainable beer packaging. TNO has developed a method that includes the impact of microplastics in the LCA of plastic products.
Plastic waste
A report (12.07 MB) by EA, shows that Plastic Overshoot Day 2024 was on 5 September (28 July in 2023). A global plastics pollution inventory from the University of Leeds shines a light on the enormous scale of uncollected rubbish and open burning of plastic waste. Scientists from IGB and the University of Potsdam have identified efficient plastic-feeding fungi in freshwater ecosystems. According to The Ocean Cleanup, the Great Pacific Garbage Patch can be eliminated in 10 years at a cost of $7.5bn. A recent Eunomia report finds that for many plastic packaging formats, further optimisation of existing sorting technologies is likely to be sufficient for improved circularity. You can download the report after filling in your details.
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