A New Report On The Analysis Of Official Eu Data On Packaging Shows That Over The Past 11 Years The Amountnbspof Packaging Waste Going To Final Disposal In Eu15 Has Fallen By 57 43 Higher Recycling Levels Andnbspother Forms Of Packaging Waste Recovery Are Largely The Reasons Says Europen The Europeannbsporganization For Packaging And The Environment In 2008 In The Eu 27 Member States Just Over 17 Millionnbsptonnes Of Packaging Were Sent For Final Disposal To Put This Into Context It Is Estimated That 89 Millionnbsptonnes Of Food Are Currently Wasted In The Eu 27 More Than Five Times The Amount Of Packaging Wastethe Analysis Of Data From 1998 To 2008 By Europen Also Shows That In Eu15 Growth In Packaging Wastenbspis Clearly Decoupling From Growth In Gdp An Objective Of The Eu Waste Strategy In The 11 Year Periodnbspstudied Despite An Ageing Population And A Trend Throughout Europe Towards Smaller Households All Ofnbspwhich Led To The Purchase Of A Greater Number Of Packaged Goods The Amount Of Packaging Placed On Thenbspmarket Excluding Wood Packaging Rose By Only 10 And The Amount Of Packaging Waste Disposed Ofnbspalso Excluding Wood Actually Fell By 57 43 See Note 1nbspthe Report Packaging And Packaging Waste Statistics In Europe 19982008 Contradicts Widely Heldnbspperceptions That Packaging Has Led To A Mountain Of Waste Across Europe Instead It Confirms An Earliernbspeu Commission Assessment Of The Eu Thematic Strategy On Waste Prevention And Recycling Whichnbspshowed That Packaging Waste From Households And Commercial Sources Accounts For Only About Three Pernbspcent Of Total Wastecommenting On The Findings In The Report Europen Managing Director Julian Carroll Said Ldquothe Datanbspsupports Our View That The 1994 Directive On Packaging And Packaging Waste Is Clearly One Of The Mostnbspsuccessful Pieces Of Eu Environmental Legislation Something In Which All Participants Can Take Pride Thisnbspis Particularly True For Consumers Who Across The Eu Are Increasingly Accepting The Sorting Of Packaging Intheir Homes For Recycling As A Routine Activityrdquonbspthe Eu Directive Set A 2008 Recycling Target Of 55 To Be Reached By 12 Member States With The Remaindernbspincluding The Newer Member States To Reach The Same Target Between 2011 And 2015 By 2008 Three Of Thenbspremainder Had Passed The 55 Target And Most Others Were Approaching Or Already Beyond A 50nbsprecycling Rateeuropen Members Which Are Major Companies Producing Consumer Goods Packaging And Packagingnbspmaterials Are All Stepping Up Their Efforts To Address Packaging Related Sustainability Issues Individually Andnbspcollectively In Partnership With Public Initiatives Such As The Eu Sustainable Consumption And Productionnbspaction Plan Ldquoclearly This Success Of The Packaging Value Chain Can Be Seen As An Example Of Bestnbsppractice For Other Industry Sectors In Their Efforts To Do More With Lessrdquo Said Julian Carroll Adding Ldquoin Thenbspcontext Of Overall Sustainability It Is More And More Evident That Contrary To Popular Misconceptionnbsppackaging Should Be Regarded As Part Of The Solution Not Part Of The Problem And As A Net Contributor Toachieving The Broad Sustainability Goal Of Resource Optimization And Waste Minimizationrdquo
