A proposed regulation has been adopted to facilitate the reuse and recycling of packaging, and to ban so-called “forever” chemicals (PFAS) in food packaging.
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The European Parliament’s Environment Committee voted on Tuesday October 24 in favor of a proposed regulation aimed at reducing packaging. This proposal provides for the ban on perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl compounds (PFAS) in food containers, these so-called substances “eternal pollutants” and harmful to health. Equipped with non-stick and waterproof properties, they are widely present in everyday life: Teflon pans, food packaging, textiles, automobiles. Pascal Canfin, Tuesday on franceinfo, defended the ban on PFAS “in contact with our food” : “It’s a way of getting around the fact that the Commission is not moving fast enough to protect our health from the most dangerous chemicals,” he underlined, referring to the abandonment on October 17 of the reform of the European Reach regulation on chemicals, which regulates dangerous chemical substances in the EU.
MEPs also spoke out in the Environment Committee on reducing waste, even though Europeans have never produced so much packaging waste. In 2021, the European Union (EU) generated 188.7 kg per capita, or 10.8 kg more per person compared to 2020, according to a report published by Eurostat. “We are not going to reduce 100% of packaging. We will start with those that are superfluous, Renew MEP Pascal Canfin stressed on franceinfo. The challenge is therefore to set rules which ensure that we start with totally superfluous, useless packaging.”
The result of the vote will be debated on November 20 in plenary by MEPs in order to definitively confirm Parliament’s position on this text, before future negotiations with the Member States who must themselves adopt their position in mid-December.