The EU's new waste management regulations restrict certain single-use plastics, such as pre-packed fruit and veg weighing less than 1.5 kg and individual portions of condiments, sauces, and sugar in hotels, bars and restaurants.
Despite years of policy intervention and public awareness campaigns, plastic pollution remains a stubborn obstacle in the EU’s green transition. Fragmented recycling laws, the challenge of engineering effective plastic alternatives, and political resistance to pan-European initiatives have hampered progress towards an integrated circular economy. But the bloc’s latest regulatory push could change that, say experts.
About 140 million tonnes of plastic waste is produced globally every year, according to the World Economic Forum – and more than half of that ends in a landfill or the ocean.
In 2022, Europe alone generated 16.16 million tonnes of plastic packaging waste. Only 6.58 million tonnes – or 40.7% of it – was recycled. The remaining was incinerated (35%), exported (8%) or illegally dumped.
When plastic pollution seeps into habitats, it alters natural processes and reduces ecosystems’ ability to adapt to climate change, directly affecting the livelihoods and food production capabilities of millions of people.
“We still incinerate too much plastic in Europe,” says Jörg Deppmeyer, Chairman of PRO Europe, a Brussels-based association that coordinates national packaging recovery organizations across Europe, and one of several organizations pushing for cleaner practices.
While public awareness of plastic waste is high – with some scientists warning that we are in a “lull” before the impending “plastic health crisis” – Deppmeyer points out that, in practice, the EU recycles plastic at barely half the rate of paper and glass.
But a key piece of new regulation may change that. In February 2025, the EU's new Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR) took effect, aiming to reduce raw material use, make all packaging recyclable by 2030, and achieve climate neutrality in the sector by 2050.
The recycling rates of plastic waste in EU countries vary widely: the countries that recycled the most in 2022 were Slovakia (59.6%), Belgium (54.2%) and Germany (51.1%), while the lowest rates were observed in Malta (16.4%), Denmark (23.5%) and France (25.2%)
Source: Eurostat
Breaking up with single-use
Under the PPWR, companies are under pressure to produce packaging that is ‘recyclable by design’ and reusable where possible, in line with carbon reduction mandates.
It also places restrictions on certain single-use plastics, such as pre-packed fruit and veg weighing less than 1.5 kg and individual portions of condiments in hotels, bars and restaurants.
Deppmeyer emphasises that an integrated circular economy where packaging is recycled at scale across the continent starts with “proper” design: “Every brand manager needs to consider the end of life of packaging during the design process. This means using fewer composites and more mono-materials, especially in plastics.”
A mono-material plastic packaging might be made entirely of polyethylene (PE), while a multi-material packaging might combine PE, aluminum, and other plastics - with the former presenting more complex recycling challenges.
Mono or composite, all engineered plastic is intimately tied to the fossil industry, developed using unrefined petroleum, flammable gas, and coal.
“There are a lot of integrations between the two industries. In the past, they were separate, but the more fossil fuel industries are seeing a risk in using fossil fuels solely to make energy, the more they are trying to integrate with plastic production companies,” explains Client Earth’s plastic lawyer Tatiana Luján.
The life-cycle greenhouse gas emissions of plastics – which includes the production of the material and its disposal – accounts for some 3.4% of global emissions. And by 2060, emissions from the plastics lifecycle are expected to triple.
The most impactful systemic change will therefore come when European multinationals reject unnecessary plastic and unlink their packaging profit from the fossil industry.
Recyclable by design
But this is no small feat. Currently, even the most innovative paper packaging struggles to achieve the same degree of product protection as plastics.
“Preserving food is inherently challenging because nature is designed to promote decay,” says Pedro Gonçalves, marketing VP at the Swedish packaging giant Tetra Pak.
In 2024, Tetra Pak, which sells around 193 billion packaging units worldwide each year, unveiled an industry-leading paper-based barrier material. But mainstreaming the product will take until at least 2030.
“Scaling this innovation is complex,” says Gonçalves. “[It requires] new machinery and supply chains. For instance, transitioning from plastic to paper straws involved creating slower machines that initially raised costs.”
Gradually, however, corporations are adopting new standards. Thomas Körmendi, CEO of the global carton packaging supplier Elopak, calls hitting the PPWR’s recycling and emissions targets “critical” to safeguarding the company’s business as a scope 3 supplier: “Right now, recyclability and carbon impact are the biggest drivers of carton innovation.”
Paper-based packaging company Smurfitt Westrock, which operates over 500 packaging facilities and 62 paper mills across 40 countries, helps industry giants like Coca-Cola, PepsiCo and Gatorade to swap plastic for paper in their products.
“We worked with Danone and Alpro to remove plastic from their cartons… [and] we did something similar with Ferrero in Italy,” says Chief Sustainability Officer Garrett Quinn. “On the industrial side, we've replaced polystyrene with paper solutions for companies like Rheem. For Scania, we replaced their plastic-and-wood packaging with 100% paper.”
Reckitt, the British parent company behind global household brands like Dettol and Finish, has also made material changes to its designs: “[We shifted from] metallised film to solid board cartons in Enfamil, our infant formula brand. Finish dishwashing products moved from multilayer plastic packaging to single-material laminates, and 85% of the packaging is now paper-based,” says Group Head of Sustainability David Croft.
But simplifying product components is only a fraction of the challenge: “In some markets, you cannot use recycled plastic in certain applications, like food contact or pharmaceutical packaging”, says Croft. “And in many regions, the networks to support effective recycling simply do not exist yet”.
“A lack of leadership”
As such, a successful, integrated circular economy in Europe relies on more than just recyclable materials. It requires coherent cross-border collection, sorting and processing systems.
Already, despite progress in packaging design, there are concerns that many member states will not meet 2030 recycling targets, with two-thirds at risk of falling short.
Francesca Stevens, President of the European Organization for Packaging and the Environment (EUROPEN), argues that, while municipalities play a role in supporting collection systems, real change must come from national governments.
For Stevens, the EU’s biggest issue is political reticence towards the single market.
“[Governments] are often resistant to interference from the EU on waste management issues,” she says. “There is currently a lack of leadership. The single market could be Europe's biggest strength in shielding us from geopolitical challenges, but it is still not fully functioning for goods, services, capital, or people.”
This is not just about blaming politicians, she cautions. “Civil society, including NGOs, also needs to be more vocal in calling for harmonized waste management systems across Europe.”
Several European NGOs, like the European Environmental Bureau (EEB), Zero Waste Europe, Plastic Justice EU, and alliances like Rethink Plastic, part of the global Break Free From Plastic movement, are working to sway transnational policymaking towards more ambitious plastic management systems.
“But evidence-based legislation is often overshadowed by ideology, which can lead to ineffective regulations and loopholes that prevent full harmonization of rules,” says Stevens. “The solution requires courageous business and political leaders to speak up more about the importance of the single market and engage with their national ministries.”
Private-run, profit-driven
Despite the political reluctance, Deppmeyer is “optimistic” that the PPWR can “harmonize the [EU] system while building on existing national infrastructures.”
“Multinational brands, like PepsiCo, Coca-Cola, Nestlé, and Unilever, face different prerequisites across European countries, and they would greatly benefit from harmonization,” he says.
In this respect, the PPWR’s recycling quotas for specific material streams across Europe are a good starting point. And with increased regulatory coherence, both Deppmeyer and Stevens foresee a greater private-sector buy-in on waste management.
“I advocate for private-run, profit-oriented solutions in developed countries with intense competition [to] help to bring down costs [of system transformation],” says Deppmeyer. “Politicians should focus on setting clear, reliable frameworks and deadlines… but then step back.”
“We must continue to accelerate our efforts, replace fossil materials, and protect Europe’s limited resources. Achieving this ambitious target within the next 5 to 10 years is our challenge.”
