Main Page     I. The Administrative Framework     II. European Environmental Policy
III. Directives Implementing the EU Environmental Policy
IV. Chart of the Directives and Enforcement Dates

Packaging Waste

The purpose of the European Parliament and Council Directive 94/62/EC of 20 December 1994 on packaging and packaging waste are to reduce the production of packaging waste and to promote reuse, recycling and other forms of packaging recovery. The directive covers any material of any nature that is used for the containment, protection, handling, delivery and presentation of goods. The directive covers all aspects of the production stream, from raw materials to finished goods and from the producer to the ultimate user or consumer, and covers all levels of packaging, including sales, grouped and transport packaging. The EU is directed to develop a program for classifying and marking packaging materials, to promote the development of standards and to develop national programs for controlling the levels of packaging wastes with specific goals (for instance, between 25 and 45 % of packaging materials by weight are to be recycled, with a minimum of 15% for each type of packaging material). The implementation of the P&PWD has been incomplete. Different countries are using different strategies for complying with the directive. In Germany, a private organization is in charge of the compliance and proposes to the companies, for a small fee, to place a greenpoint dot on their packages to show compliance. Government programs have been developed in the UK and in France for the implementation of the directive. However, the major targets for these programs are companies that ship large quantities of essential similar products in the internal free market.