EUROPE – Zero Waste Europe (ZWE) is calling for urgent policy reform to promote reusable packaging systems in the takeaway food and beverage industry.
Despite growing interest across the EU in reducing packaging waste, the shift to reusable and refillable alternatives remains slow due to higher costs and lack of fiscal support.
According to ZWE’s latest report, reusable packaging market penetration is around 85%, but without supportive fiscal measures, the cost of implementing reuse systems remains higher for takeaway vendors compared to single-use options.
While certain formats, like cups, come close to cost-neutral, others, such as pizza boxes, are significantly more expensive to reuse.
ZWE emphasizes that the lower cost of single-use packaging is misleading, as it doesn’t account for environmental externalities, such as litter clean-up, waste disposal, and carbon emissions.
These hidden costs are borne by society at large, not by the businesses benefiting from single-use packaging.
Need for fiscal policy and regulatory measures
Larissa Copello, ZWE’s Packaging and Reuse Policy Officer, highlights the importance of policy intervention to address the cost imbalance between single-use and reusable packaging.
“Policy measures like levies or taxes are critical to create fair competition,” she explains. “Public authorities need to enforce stricter regulations, such as setting ambitious reuse targets or even banning single-use packaging.”
Copello points out that the current linear economy favors single-use packaging due to the lack of proper infrastructure for reusable systems.
She stresses the need to build reuse infrastructure and apply the “Polluter Pays Principle,” which would require producers to cover the full environmental costs of their packaging, to transition to a circular economy.
Challenges and the path forward
Germany’s Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) system, designed to hold producers accountable for waste management, has yet to significantly impact reusable packaging use.
While EPR fees in Berlin apply to single-use packaging, they have not been high enough to drive widespread adoption of reuse systems. Copello suggests that increasing these fees to reflect environmental costs could level the playing field and encourage the use of reusable alternatives.
The upcoming Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR) allows EU member states to introduce further measures supporting reusable packaging systems.
The regsystems andudes provisions for setting higher reuse targets, implementing deposit and return systems, and introducing economic incentives to reduce reliance on single-use packaging.
Copello concludes, “The PPWR provides a critical opportunity for Europe to reduce packaging waste and promote circularity. It’s time to implement the necessary policies to make reuse systems more cost-effective and environmentally sustainable.”
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