New EU Regulation Challenges Finnish Beverage Industry
The European Parliament is set to give its final approval to the EU’s packaging waste regulation on Wednesday, despite hopes from the Finnish beverage industry that it will be rejected. The new regulation presents challenges for the Finnish bottle deposit system, which has been successful in reducing packaging waste. By 2030, ten percent of beverages must be sold in reusable packaging under the regulation, primarily affecting the brewing industry. This could lead to costs amounting to hundreds of millions of euros and the creation of two separate bottle return systems.
MEP Elsi Katainen from Finland believes that the call for a parallel return system is not reasonable. She argues that creating a new system alongside the successful Finnish bottle return system would be preposterous. MEP Mauri Pekkarinen from the Center party plans to vote against the regulation, arguing that it penalizes environmentally conscious operators in Europe. Social Democrat MEP Miapetra Kumpula-Natri views this as a scenario where lobbying efforts came too late.
The EU aims to reduce packaging waste, set targets for reuse, and restrict single-use packaging with its new regulation. Negotiators from the Parliament and Council reached an agreement on the regulation details in March. MEP Nils Torvalds from Rkp plans to vote in favor of legislation fearing that revisiting it could lead to a worse outcome. MEP Ville Niinistö of Green party sees this as a positive step towards sustainable packaging but recognizes the need for further clarity on requirements for parallel bottle return system. Finland may receive an exemption if overall plastic recycling rate reaches 50%.
MEP Henna Virkkunen from coalition suggests that issues surrounding bottle deposit can be resolved during national implementation. The Finnish association administering recycling systems for deposit bottles, Palpa, has raised concerns about confusion between high deposit bottle return rates and low rates for other plastics
