Hello from slightly snowy Brussels. The PPWR, though voted in plenary, continues to divide, with some confusion still reigning on the fate of bio-based plastics. In other news, the Council and the European Parliament reached an agreement on IED and the final compromise text on CRM was published last week. More below.
Industrial Emissions Directive (IED): On 28 November, the Council and European Parliament reached an agreement on the industrial emissions directive (IED) and the establishment of an industrial emissions portal (IEP).
Critical Raw Materials (CRM): The final Compromise text was published and approved by COREPER I during their meeting on 29 November at the European Parliament. The plenary vote is scheduled for 11 December.
Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation: There is some confusion about the fate of bio-based plastics in the text voted by the European Parliament. Indeed, two divergent amendments were adopted during the plenary vote. MEPs supported both Amendment 138 and Amendment 461.
Single-use Plastic (Beverage Bottles): The Commission Implementing Decision (EU) 2023/2683 laying down rules for the application of Directive (EU) 2019/904 as regards the calculation, verification and reporting of data on recycled plastic content in single-use plastic beverage bottles was published in the Official Journal of the EU on 30 November.
Circular Material Use Rate (CMUR): Eurostat published updated data on circular material use rate. Compared to 2021, the circularity rate increased by 0,1%.
Waste from electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE): On 21 November, the Council and the Parliament reached an agreement on Amendments on the collection and management of WEEE. The Council’s compromise text is now public.
The Gas Directive: On 28 November, the Council and the Parliament reached an agreement on the Directive to establish common rules for the internal markets in renewable and natural gases and in hydrogen.
Microplastics Regulation: João Albuquerque (S&D, Portugual) was appointed Rapporteur on the Microplastics Regulation on 20 November.
Air Pollution: ‘Air pollution remains the main environmental risk to the health of Europeans,’ states the European Environment Agency in its new assessment of the harm to human health from air pollution in Europe published on 24 November.
Spanish Plastic Tax: Under Spanish law, companies placing non-recyclable, non-reusable packaging must pay a tax. From January 2024, it will be mandatory to have an accredited third-party certification of recycled content such as RecyClass.
Energy Prices: The European Commission wants to prolong the period of application of the gas price cap and other emergency regulations adopted in 2022 by 12 months. Three regulations were published to this effect and all cite the war in Ukraine as justification. The first caps the price of gas until the end of January 2025. The second extends the rules on joint purchasing of gas during shortages until December 2024. The third extends the provisions of the text accelerating the deployment of renewable energy.
Chemical substances: Sharon McGuinness, head of ECHA spoke to MEPs on 29 November and underlined the need to regulate chemical substances in group, reports Contexte.
European Green Bonds Regulation: On 30 November, the Regulation was published in the EU’s Official Journal. It defines the requirements for bond issuers who wish to use the term ‘European Green Bond’.
PVC additives and microparticle releases: On 28 November, ECHA stated that their investigation on the potential risks of PVC additives found that some substances added to PVC plastic may pose a risk to people and the environment.
Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) and European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS): The GRI-ESRS Interoperability Index has been made publicly available on 1 December as it is submitted for approval to the December meetings of EFRAG standard setting bodies.
Plastic for Recycling: FEAD’s member DWMA, together with Dutch Chemical Industry Association (VNCI), Plastics Europe Netherlands and the Chemical Recycling Acceleration Table, published a market study titled ‘Plastic Feedstock for Recycling in the Netherlands’ that delves into plastic as raw material for recycling.
FEAD News: On 30 December, FEAD President Claudia Mensi, was present at the Clean Transition Dialogue on Energy Intensive Industries launched by the European Commission and hosted by were the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen and the Executive Vice-President for the Green Deal, Maroš Šefčovič.
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