One by one, pieces of the European Green Deal plan are falling out of the puzzle. The next one will probably be the insane new packaging regulation on “re-usage,” which among other things requires the end of paper cups for drinks consumed inside bars and restaurants, sugar sachets, plastic bottles for hotel shampoos and shower gels, and certain packaging in which fruits and vegetables are sold. For the EU Commission, they should be replaced with washable and reusable packaging (the cups and so forth, not the commissioners).
The Italian packaging industry and several farmers associations that have entirely converted to the previous standard of a single-use recycling system in the past years, have mobilized to stop that regulation. A group of 40 Italian members of the European Parliament from all political parties has joined the mobilization and committed to build a nonpartisan majority to block the new regulation proposal in the European Parliament, which is supposed to vote on the proposal on Nov. 21.
In a meeting in Brussels, producers associations have explained that the impact of the new regulation would be devastating, not only to the packaging sector but also to the entire supply chain, as well as to consumers. In addition, scientific evidence shows that the reusable packaging that the EU Commission seeks to impose has more impact than single-use packaging, leading to a 180% increase in CO2 emissions and about 240% more water consumption.
