Online trade: EU wants to reduce the amount of waste – economy

The federal government has now agreed to the EU Packaging Regulation. After a series of crisis meetings, the FDP ministers in the traffic light coalition have given up their resistance. The aim of the Packaging Ordinance is to reduce the amount of waste that is also caused by the increasing shipping of goods in online retail. This should be achieved through the use of reusable or recycled packaging. The regulation provides for minimum reusable quotas for industrial packaging, for example, which are to be increased over the years. Single-use packaging will largely be completely banned after 2030. The Council of Ministers, the EU Commission and the EU Parliament had previously agreed on a compromise. On Friday, the ambassadors of the member states also approved the plan. Without Germany’s yes, a majority would have been uncertain. Federal Environment Minister Steffi Lemke (Greens) called a possible abstention “negligent”. Packaging industry associations complain that the new regulation entails significantly stricter rules than the Commission initially proposed. The FDP also expressed concerns because it sees the economy as being excessively burdened by the EU project.