Single-Use Container Recycling Regulations

France finally publishes its long-awaited law on recycled plastics in packaging After months of expectation, the arrêté of 5 September 2025 is here - and it changes the game for producers placing packaging on the French market (effective 1 January 2026). 🔹 Bonuses (per tonne of recycled plastic used): - €450/t if recyclate comes from another EPR stream - €550/t if from the same stream - €1,000/t for hard-to-recycle resins reintroduced into food-contact sensitive packaging 🔹 Minimum incorporation rates for beverage bottles: - PET (clear, coloured, opaque): 25% by end 2029 → 30% from 2030 - HDPE: 0% until 2029 → 30% from 2030 🔹 Localisation rule: To qualify, all steps (collection, sorting, recycling, incorporation) must take place within 1,500 km of France’s geographic centre, or in the EU / countries with equivalent standards. 👉 This clearly covers neighbours like Belgium, Spain, Italy or Germany. Even Ireland and southern Sweden fall within the circle, while parts of Poland or northern Greece are only partially covered. Beyond that, countries such as the Baltics or Cyprus are excluded. 🔹 Exclusions & penalties: - No bonus for PVC recyclate in packaging - No bonus if recycling process yields <50% - Penalties for products containing substances that disrupt recycling 👉 This long-awaited framework aims to secure local, traceable, and high-quality recycling loops, while penalising practices that hinder recyclability. It’s a clear signal: France is raising the bar on packaging circularity and pushing producers to go further, faster.

India’s New PET Bottle Rule: What’s Changing & Why Beverage Giants Are Pushing Back The Indian government has mandated that from April 1, 2025, beverage companies must use at least 30% recycled PET (rPET) in their plastic bottles. This requirement, part of India’s Plastic Waste Management (PWM) Rules, aims to reduce plastic waste and boost domestic recycling. The mandate will increase annually, reaching 60% by 2028-29. 🔹 Why Is This Rule Important? Reduces dependency on virgin plastic. Encourages recycling infrastructure development. Supports India’s commitment to tackling plastic pollution. 🔹 Why Are Beverage Companies Opposing It? Major brands like Coca-Cola, Bisleri, and Parle Agro argue that meeting the deadline is unrealistic due to: 📉 Limited recycling capacity – Only five certified plants exist, covering just 15% of the industry’s demand for food-grade rPET. 💰 High costs – The shift could increase bottling expenses by 30%, with some of the burden passed to consumers. ⚠️ Risk of bottle shortages – The rule coincides with peak summer demand, straining supply chains. 🛠️ Quality concerns – Small brands might turn to uncertified recyclers, risking safety and compliance issues. 🔹 Industry’s Counter-Proposal Start with 10-15% rPET and increase gradually. Seek subsidies and tax breaks to expand recycling plants. 🔹 Government’s Response Officials say the industry had two years to prepare, and the deadline will not be extended. Some companies are now considering legal action to delay the rule’s implementation. #recycling #Sustainability #PETBottle

🌊 Single Use Plastics Directive: the European Commission finally lays out the guidelines for producer responsibility on litter costs 📣 After a three-year delay, the European Commission has finally published the guidelines on covering the costs of litter, which Extended Producer Responsibility schemes under Article 8 of the SUP Directive are required to cover. It's inevitably a bittersweet moment for me, as I have been following this text since the proposal was first published in May 2018. ⚖️ As a reminder, Articles 8(2)(c) and 8(3)(b) of the SUP Directive oblige Member States to ensure that producers of the single-use plastic products listed in Sections I, II, and III of Part E of the Annex cover at least “the costs of waste collection resulting from these products and the subsequent transport and treatment of such waste” under the framework of extended producer responsibility. ⚙️ To facilitate the implementation of the SUP Directive, the European Commission was tasked with developing guidelines specifying criteria for the costs of cleaning litter, in consultation with Member States. On 24 October 2025, the Commission finally published these guidelines. Building on the 2021 Ramboll report and the June 2023 draft guidelines, they now provide an operational framework for Member States and EPR schemes. 🎏 The guidelines confirm that only costs associated with litter collection carried out by or on behalf of public authorities are eligible, clarifying previous uncertainty around private or voluntary initiatives. They also highlight the importance of integration with other directives, in particular the Urban Waste Water Treatment Directive. This connection was absent from the 2023 draft, as the revision of that directive was not yet finalised. Mentioning its provisions could inform cost allocation for this new EPR scheme or expand the scope of litter-cleaning costs for Article 8 EPR schemes under the SUP Directive at the national level. 💶 Practically, the guidelines propose two approaches to allocate costs to producers: a simplified method based on aggregate indicators (weight, volume, number of items) and a more detailed, representative method that takes into account cleaning techniques and cost factors. This dual approach reflects the complex balance between the need for swift implementation and the analytical accuracy required to represent local operational realities. 🏹 Finally, the document emphasises proportionality and transparency in cost calculation, the importance of reliable and up-to-date data, and the need to link producer financial contributions to measurable outcomes in reducing litter. ⁉️ At national and local levels, the challenge will be to determine the right balance between cost and effectiveness, establish a fair allocation key among producers, and define what constitutes an adequate level of cleanliness depending on territory and context.

🚨 𝗚𝗲𝗿𝗺𝗮𝗻𝘆 𝗻𝗼𝘁𝗶𝗳𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝗩𝗲𝗿𝗽𝗮𝗰𝗸𝗗𝗚 𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿 𝗧𝗥𝗜𝗦: 𝗼𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗼𝗳 𝗣𝗣𝗪𝗥 𝗯𝗲𝗴𝗶𝗻𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝘀𝗵𝗮𝗽𝗲 On 13 February 2026, Germany has notified its draft Packaging Law Implementation Act (VerpackDG) under TRIS procedure 2026/0069/DE, confirming that national implementation of Regulation (EU) 2025/40 (PPWR) is already moving into the operational phase ahead of the August 2026 applicability date. The notified text is noteworthy not for restating the Regulation, but for structuring the national compliance infrastructure through which directly applicable EU obligations will operate in practice. The draft maintains a nationwide uniform DRS with a minimum €0.25 deposit, mandatory marking, take-back/refund obligations, and detailed operational rules (including scope limitations for small retailers). Manufacturers may place PET single-use beverage bottles on the market only if they contain ≥25% recycled plastic by mass, rising to ≥30% from 1 January 2030. Compliance can also be achieved via annual mass-balance/averaging across bottles placed on the German market (subject to verifiable documentation). Final distributors filling single-use plastic food packaging or single-use beverage cups must also offer a reusable alternative at the point of sale, on no worse price/conditions, now explicitly extending to caps and lids. Specific facilitations apply for small businesses and vending machines. The draft introduces an authorisation-driven governance model for systems / producer responsibility organisations, including financial capacity/security requirements, reinforced reporting and audit features, and a stronger role for the Central Agency Packaging Register (ZSVR) as a core compliance “hub”. Germany is therefore not redefining the PPWR obligations themselves, but the way in which those obligations will operate in practice. This raises a recurring practical issue in EU regulatory law: uniform substantive rules may still lead to different compliance realities. If companies placing packaging on the EU market must comply with PPWR, but each Member State defines its own operational system, will compliance remain truly uniform in practice? And, at what point do national implementation choices start affecting the level playing field that a Regulation is meant to guarantee? The notified text is attached below ⬇️

The plastic waste landscape is shifting, and the "polluter pays" era has officially arrived in California! Years in the making, this past week CalRecycle has approved the regulations for SB 54, the Plastic Pollution Prevention and Packaging Producer Responsibility Act. Now, the financial and environmental burden of single-use packaging shifts from taxpayers and local governments directly to the producers. This means: 🟢 Producers must reduce single-use plastic packaging by 25% by 2032. 🟢 Companies are now responsible for a $500 million annual Plastic Pollution Mitigation Fund. 🟢 The state mandate requires 100% of packaging to be recyclable or compostable within the next six years. Producers must navigate several critical milestones over the next year to remain compliant. By May 31, 2026 (THIS MONTH!!), the first annual supply and source reduction reports are due to Circular Action Alliance (CAA). This shift pushes producers to innovate and design packaging that supports a circular economy while delivering benefits that far outweigh the costs of waste reduction. Read more here: https://lnkd.in/dGvT_YeS

Plastics in the News: Single-Use, Containers, and Mandatory Recycled Content Despite the failure to reach a global agreement on plastics, Latin American countries are moving forward with their national agendas - at times to the consternation of their trading partners. ➡️ Chile’s Single Use Plastic Regulation Chile just published the implementing regulation to its single use plastics law (Law No. 21.368/2021). The new regulation establishes detailed rules to reduce the environmental impact of single-use plastics and plastic bottles by defining certification systems, technical requirements, and gradual obligations for producers and retailers. It creates a formal framework for “certified plastics,” requiring them to be compostable (at home or industrially) and to contain at least 20% renewable raw materials, with certification granted by the Ministry of the Environment based on verification by authorized technical entities. The regulation also mandates clear labeling, public access to certificates, and digital traceability systems, ensuring transparency and enforceability across the supply chain. Plastic bottles are subject to their own rules. The regulation introduces progressive recycled-content requirements for disposable plastic bottles—starting at 15% of domestically collected and recycled plastic and rising to 70% by 2060—along with certification, QR-code traceability, and oversight mechanisms. It strengthens reuse by requiring supermarkets to offer at least 30% returnable bottles in their display space, while providing calculation rules for compliance. Transitional provisions allow phased implementation, temporary certification mechanisms, and delayed labeling obligations, enabling industries to adapt while reinforcing Chile’s strong focus on the move to its circular economy. ➡️ Brazil’s Mandatory Recycled Content As reported in a recent edition, Brazil has issued an important environmental decree specific to plastics that requires plastic packaging – including imports – to mee progressively higher recycled-content targets—starting at 22% in 2026 and rising to 40% by 2040. Now, the move has prompted formal complaints from its Mercosur partners: Uruguay, Argentina, and Paraguay, They argue that the short timeline harms exporters and was decided unilaterally outside Mercosur rules. Uruguay, where plastics are a major export to Brazil, requested a one-year postponement, noting the difficulty of adapting production—especially for food-contact packaging—while industry groups warned of disruptions to several companies. Brazil reportedly defended the measure as non-discriminatory and part of its long-standing national solid-waste policy. Although it Brazil committed consider the issue, it remains unresolved even after high-level discussions. #singleuseplastics #mercosur #beverageindustry #recycling #compliance #recycledcontent #latinamerica #chile #brazil #melonlatam