SIG Group
SIG
SIG is a leading solutions provider of packaging for better – better for our customers, for consumers, and for the world.
ID: 634596397411-62
Lobbying Activity
Response to EU rules for the calculation and reporting of recycled content in single-use plastic bottles
19 Aug 2025
As a global provider of food and beverage packaging systems and solutions, such as aseptic beverage cartons, spouted pouches and bag-in-box , SIG welcomes the EU Commissions proposal for harmonised rules to calculate, verify and report on the recycled plastic content targets introduced by Directive (EU) 2019/904 on Single-Use Plastics (SUPD). We support the swift adoption of this implementing act, as it lays the basis for legal clarity, private sector investment, and the upscaling of advanced recycling technologies which are critical to produce high quality recycled material for contact-sensitive applications. We call for a harmonised mass balance fuel-use exempt approach for all chemically recycled plastics. SIGs packaging protects highly perishable foods and beverages, thereby contributing to the EUs crisis resilience, reducing food waste, and supporting climate goals.Our packaging must meet the strictest food safety standards. One of the main challenges for companies like ours to meet the 2030 recycled plastic content targets laid out in the EU Packaging and Packaging Waste Directive (PPWR) is the (non-)availability of recycled plastic materials for flexible food packaging for direct food contact approved by EFSA. Here we call for a level playing field with regards to the availability of recycled food contact approved materials, other than rPET. A harmonised fuel-exempt mass balance approach as proposed in the draft Implementing Act is coherent with existing EU legislation (Waste Framework Directive; PPWR) and ensures economic viability for investments in advanced recycling technologies both are critical to ensure that packaging converters like SIG will be able to comply with the future mandatory targets of the PPWR. The application of more restrictive attribution rules risks hindering the development of advanced recycling technologies in the EU and decreasing the quantities of recycled plastics available - thus increasing costs, with questionable additional environmental benefits e.g. on the carbon footprint. The establishment of a third-party system with full chain of custody verification for providers of recycling material in the EU and third countries is essential to ensure the authenticity of attributed recycled content and the related claims. On technical matters, SIG is aligned with the direction proposed by EUROPEN and CEFLEX particularly on the full inclusion of advanced recycling technologies alongside mechanical recycling. In summary, we ask EU legislators to apply this harmonised fuel-use exempt mass balance approach for all chemically recycled plastics in food and beverage applications.
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