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Associazione Nazionale Industrie Metalli non Ferrosi

Assomet

Assomet is the italian association representing the non ferrous metals industry.

Lobbying Activity

Meeting with Giorgio Gori (Member of the European Parliament, Rapporteur)

22 Jan 2025 ยท Exchange on priorities and upcoming resolution on energy-intensive industries

Response to Review of the requirements for packaging and feasibility of measures to prevent packaging waste

22 Apr 2023

Assomet welcomes the objectives of the proposal for a Regulation on Packaging and Packaging Waste (PPWR) of increasing the sustainability and circularity of packing products. As a permanent material, aluminium may be a key contributor to these objectives based on the material properties and the excellent results achieved in recycling and waste reduction in the EU and in particular in Italy. We call on the Commission to duly value the materials properties when defining the policy on packaging. The use of packaging made by permanent material and effectively collected and recycled, such as those in aluminium, should be allowed and encouraged. In Italy, the aluminium packagings recycling targets set for 2030 have extensively been overcome. The mandatory requirements on compostability for coffee and tea capsules (art. 8, par.1) would prevent the usage of aluminium for the production of coffee and tea single serve units, with severe impacts on the market without a real benefit for the environment. The aluminium capsules are 100% recyclable and designed to optimize and reduce the waste related to the packaging material and its content, preserving the quality of the beverage for a long time. Therefore, we do ask to maintain the neutrality of the choice of material for the production of beverage capsules and the neutrality of choice of the end-of-life solutions (recyclability or compostability). A general ban for single use applications is a very severe form of market restriction and need to be carefully assessed on a product-by-product case considering the properties of the materials, their recycling rates and the potential negative impacts that a ban could have on food waste, consumer behaviour, food safety, hygiene and the environment. Therefore, we urge the Commission to delete article 22. Assomet agrees to the need of reducing the generation of packaging waste. However, we are extremely concerned that reuse targets, in particular the ones for food and beverages, lack of solid scientific analysis on the environmental impacts on a product-by-product level as well as impact on hygiene, food safety and food waste. We believe that the most balanced and suitable approach for optimizing the environmental sustainability of the use of packaging is to give Member States the choice of the best solution between reuse and/or recycling on a case by case basis. Therefore, we recommend deleting the Article 26 and, in particular, the reuse obligations envisaged, by 2030 and 2040, for take-away packaging referred to in paragraph 3. More details on Assomet's position are provided in the attached document.
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