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Costly and counterproductive proposal risks increasing waste
The EU is currently discussing the harmonisation of packaging labelling, with the aim of making it easier for consumers to sort their waste correctly. Unfortunately, the proposal risks being both costly and counterproductive – potentially leading to more waste.
On Wednesday, Helena and Avfall Sverige’s CEO Tony Clark published a joint opinion piece in Dagens Industri, highlighting that the European Commission’s proposal for a new harmonised labelling system risks being both ineffective and expensive. It would also replace an already functioning system, EUpicto.
The European Commission is right about the objective: we need a harmonised European system to help consumers sort waste correctly. This is essential to increase recycling rates and achieve the goals of a circular economy.
However, estimates suggest that a mandatory switch to a new EU system could cost Swedish municipalities and businesses up to SEK 230 million. Signage would need to be replaced, bins relabelled, information materials reprinted, staff trained, household communication campaigns rolled out, and packaging production adjusted. These costs would fall hardest on municipalities and on the small and medium-sized enterprises that the EU consistently claims to support.
Read the full opinion piece in Dagens Industri.
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Almost a fifth is missorted in packaging collection
The 2025 waste composition analyses show that almost a fifth, 18 percent, of the material that Näringslivets Producentansvar collects from the municipalities is missorted. This concerns packaging that is left in the wrong recycling bin, but also waste that is not packaging. Missorting deteriorates the quality of the material and can lead to less material being recycled.
Why is it so important that each packaging material can be source‑separated and recycled in clean material streams?
The answer is that, for packaging to be considered suitable for high-quality material recycling, the materials must be easy to separate. Materials should not be mixed or contaminated by other material types and should preferably be made from mono-materials. Watch the film to learn what to consider when designing packaging for maximum material recycling.