Industry coalition urges EU to rethink approach to waste sorting labels

A group of 70 European associations representing various sectors within the packaging value chain has called on the European Commission to reconsider the current direction of proposed EU-wide waste sorting label guidelines.

The Joint Research Centre (JRC), tasked with drafting the technical basis for the initiative, has recommended a system based on coloured, text-based instructions on packaging. However, the coalition warns that this model could lead to fragmentation within the Single Market, increase the administrative burden on businesses, and potentially confuse consumers.

The concerns relate to Article 12 of the proposed Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR), which mandates the development of harmonised sorting instructions across EU Member States. The current approach, critics argue, may undermine this goal by introducing multilingual requirements and complex labelling rules, effectively reintroducing national-level discrepancies.

Such a move, they suggest, could conflict with the aims of the EU’s Single Market Strategy, which identifies inconsistent packaging labels as a significant barrier to intra-EU trade.

Francesca Siciliano Stevens, Secretary General of EUROPEN, stated: We urge the European Commission to realign the JRC guidelines with the core principles of market integration and harmonisation. Only a truly unified approach to sorting labels can deliver clarity for consumers, efficiency for businesses, and real environmental impact.

In response, the coalition is advocating for a simplified and genuinely unified labelling system—one that facilitates recycling, reduces regulatory complexity, and can be applied consistently across all Member States.