Today, Glass for Europe organised a workshop on the Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR). Although flat glass is not used or transformed in packaging products, our sector uses packaging to protect and transport products and to receive packaged products from suppliers. This is why our sector, like almost all others, monitors the work and prepares for new PPWR rules.
Participants had the opportunity to learn about the current implementation of the regulation and the expected impacts on the flat glass value chain.
Maria Masdemont Fageda, Public Affairs Manager at EUROPEN, provided an overview of the key requirements mandated by the PPWR and the implementation timeline. This overview notably addressed important matters for our sector, including recyclability and reuse rules and Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) schemes. This set the stage for the next presentations on ongoing works at national levels impacted by the PPWR.
Nelly Philipponnat, representing our French national partners, UDTVP, then presented ongoing packaging legislation projects in France. She discussed the development of the French EPR scheme for professional packaging and its links with the PPWR, outlining the changes this will bring for the flat glass value chain in France. This provided an overview of what can concretely be expected in other member states in response to the PPWR.
Numerous points of concern for our sector and beyond remain unanswered, creating uncertainty, as the full application begins next August. This workshop was an opportunity for stakeholders to gather and ask questions about packaging-related legislation, while awaiting soon-to-be-published guidance from the European Commission.
Glass for Europe thanks the more than 80 participants who joined us for their active participation! Our Secretariat will continue to scrutinise the work and keep informing flat glass stakeholders .
