International project Value4Pack will help businesses and local governments prepare for changes in EU packaging law
Food Products Quality Cluster, together with partners from 11 countries, will help companies and authorities address challenges accompanying the Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR) regulation expected to come into effect in 2024. On December 18, the Council of the European Union agreed on the PPWR which is expected to curb the growth of packaging waste, better organize the EU packaging market, and support circular economy. The act specifies requirements for the composition of packaging materials and demands for material recyclability in large volumes. Packaging that does not meet those requirements will not be allowed on the market. The changes are significant and affect multiple industries, including packaging manufacturers, food producers, recyclers, municipal companies, and local governments. Simultaneously, awareness of the upcoming changes is low, and there is no credible and comprehensive information available on this topic.
Value4Pack is providing help in this situation as an initiative of 14 organizations from 11 countries, from Spain to Latvia, dedicated to implementing circular economy, designing innovative packaging and recycling. Polish association NATUREEF took key role of project’s coordinator.
Value4Pack’s goal is to prepare companies and regions to implement solutions that will help them respond to the challenges of the PPWR regulation, like mandatory content of post-consumer recyclate in every packaging, recyclability of every packaging introduced to the market and availability of infrastructure for collecting, sorting and recycling packaging.
Packaging ecosystem in every region
The participants of Value4Pack will examine the 29 regions they come from for their readiness to implement the recommendations of the PPWR regulation in their area and the real scale of cooperation between all entities affected by the new regulations. Project partners will conduct workshops and meetings with packaging manufacturers, waste processing companies and local authorities. Specific initiatives will be prepared for the entire ecosystem needed to meet the requirements of PPWR, with business plans and presentations for investors. If necessary, organizers will reach out to partners, such as specialized companies, outside their home regions. Value4Pack will also explore the possibility of obtaining funding for projects from EU programs. As a result, by October 2024, 10 projects ready for funding are expected to be created, involving at least 25 companies. They will be important links in local ecosystems of the packaging and waste processing industry, in line with the new PPWR provisions 1. To meet the requirements of PPWR, investments must be made, for example, to help produce recyclate that will have to be added to new packaging, as it is not always profitable to import them from another part of the country or Europe.
Contacts for more information about the Project and possibilities –
Funded by the European Union. However, the views and opinions expressed in the article are solely those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the European Union or EISMEA. Neither the European Union nor the funding body can be held responsible for them.
The project is funded by the European Commission's new Interregional Innovation Investments Instrument (I3) supporting interregional cooperation.