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Poor and costly proposal risks creating more waste
The EU is currently discussing a harmonised system for packaging labelling, with the aim of making it easier for consumers to sort their waste correctly. Unfortunately, the proposal risks being both costly and generating more waste.
Yesterday, Helena Nylén, CEO Näringslivets Producentansvar, 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 packaging labelling system risks being both ineffective and expensive. It would also replace an already well-functioning system, EUpicto.
The European Commission is right about the objective: we need a harmonised European system to help consumers sort their waste correctly. This is a prerequisite for increasing recycling rates and achieving the goals of a circular economy.
Estimates suggest that a mandatory switch to a new EU system would cost Swedish municipalities and businesses up to SEK 230 million. Signage would need to be replaced, bins relabelled, information materials reprinted, staff trained, household campaigns rolled out and packaging production adapted. The cost would hit municipalities hardest, as well as the small and medium-sized enterprises that the EU consistently claims it wants to protect.
Read the full opinion piece in Dagens Industri.
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