FINAT, the European label industry association, has expressed its concern regarding the plans of the European Commission to include a negative list of packaging characteristics as part of their revision of the Packaging and Packaging Waste Directive.

In a statement shared with the services of the Commission taking part in the ongoing Inter- Service Consultation, FINAT pointed out that the list as presented in the draft legal text that appeared in the press is not based on the most up-to-date developments on packaging materials and recycling.

A negative list would work against further development of recycling technologies, and furthermore the foreseen process for its implementation would fail to provide regulatory certainty to the industry, which is one of the goals of the revision.

Alternatively, FINAT proposes to emphasize the definition of criteria for Design for Recycling in a technology agnostic manner, and involve a multi-stakeholder Expert Group in the development of Design for Recycling guidelines for the specific packaging materials.

Read: FINAT’s statement