New study on the impacts of EU packaging regulation shows a blanket approach on re-use may have unintended consequences: higher CO2 emissions & costs

ECMA are today releasing a study commissioned & financed by ECMA, CEPI, EPPA, FEFCO and Pro Carton and based around the findings of a McKinsey study, which has also been released today, which looks at the impact of reusable packaging targets proposed in the Packaging & Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR).

As the EU looks to adopt the PPWR, this in-depth study, merging data from various sources, finds that imposing strict reusable packaging targets by 2030 will severely impact the EU's climate footprint, as well as consumers' budgets.

The new research reviews several existing studies on packaging and draws on two separate model scenarios, one for food takeaway in Belgium and one for e-commerce packaging in Germany. These use-cases were selected to compare the impacts of paper-based packaging as used today, with those of reusable plastic packaging, if 2030 reuse targets foreseen in the PPWR were applied. The resulting study offers an analysis of environmental impacts, economic effects, and societal implications and concludes that reusable solutions would yield higher CO2 emissions than paper and board – up to 160% more carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere for food takeaway and up to 40% for e-commerce

Download the summary infographic assessing the impact of the PPWR reuse targets.

Download the full report: Impact Assessment of reuse targets in proposed PPWR.

Download the McKinsey article

The findings from this report will be used by ECMA and Fibre Packaging Europe, in our outreach with policymakers and you are welcome to use them on your own websites and social media