MEPs have adopted a new Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR) described as one of the most lobbied files to pass through the assembly in recent years. It has also been among the most contentious, and was nearly scotched during inter-governmental negotiations last month.
The new law – backed by 476 lawmakers drawn from across the mainstream parties, with 129 voting against and 24 abstaining – stipulates that the annual average of nearly 190kg of wrappers, boxes, bottles, cartons and cans discarded generated annually by every EU citizen should be cut by 5% to 2030.