What changed between the draft committee report and the plenary report

Added:Article 21 – paragraph 1: 1. Economic operators who supply products to a final distributor or an end user in grouped packaging, transport packaging or e-commerce packaging, shall ensure that the empty space ratio is maximum 40 % in accordance with the provisions laid down by Parts 1 and 2 of Annex IV.

Added:Article 21 – paragraph 3 a (new): 3a. Economic operators using reusable packaging within a system of reuse shall be exempted from the obligation laid down in paragraph 1.

Added:Article 22 – paragraph 1: 1. By 31 December 2027 at the latest, economic operators shall not place on the market packaging in the formats and for the purposes listed in Annex V.

Added:Article 22 – paragraph 3: 3. Economic operators shall be exempted from the application of point 3 of Annex V if they meet the definition of a micro-company in accordance with rules set out in Commission Recommendation 2003/361, as applicable on [OP: Please insert date = date of entry into force of this Regulation]. In addition, Member States shall grant an exemption where it has been demonstrated that it is not technically feasible not to use packaging or to obtain access to the infrastructure necessary for the functioning of a reuse system.

Added:Article 22 – paragraph 4: 4. The Commission shall be empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 58 to amend Annex V in order to adapt it to technical and scientific progress with the objective to reducing packaging waste and improving the overall environmental outcome, which may require specific waste streams departing from the hierarchy where this is justified by an independent and peer reviewed life-cycle assessment. When adopting those delegated acts, the Commission shall consider the potential of the restrictions on the use of specific packaging formats to reduce the packaging waste generated while ensuring an overall positive environmental impact, and shall take into account the availability of alternative packaging solutions that meet requirements set out in legislation applicable to contact sensitive packaging, as well as their capability to prevent microbiological contamination of the packaged product.

Added:Article 22 a (new): Article 22a / Restriction on the use of certain very lightweight plastic bags packaging / 1. Economic operators shall not place very lightweight plastic carrier bags on the market. / 2. Without prejudice to Article 8(1a), paragraph 1 of this Article shall not apply to very lightweight plastic carrier bags required for hygiene reasons or provided as primary packaging for loose food when this helps to prevent food wastage.

Added:Article 23 – paragraph 1: 1. Economic operators who place reusable packaging on the market shall ensure that a system for re-use of such packaging is in place, including an incentive to ensure collection, which meets the requirements laid down in Article 24 and Annex VI. This paragraph shall be considered fulfilled by existing systems for reuse already in place in the Member States.

Added:Article 24 – paragraph 2 a (new): 2a. Economic operators making use of reusable packaging may designate third parties responsible of one or more mutualised systems for re-use. The appointed third parties shall ensure that the systems for reuse, which the reusable packaging is part of, comply with the requirements laid down in Part A of Annex VI. / Where economic operators have appointed a third party as referred in paragraph 2a, the obligations set out in this Article shall be met by the third parties on their behalf.

Article 25 – paragraph 3: 3. Economic operators enabling refill shall ensure that if a packaging is offered to the end users at the refill stations, it is not provided free of charge or is provided as a part of a deposit and return system.

Change 46

Changed:Article 25 – paragraph 4: 4. Economic operators may refuse to refill a container provided by the end user, if the end user does not abide with the requirements communicated by the economic operator in accordance with paragraph 1.1, Theyin areparticular exemptif fromthey deem it unhygienic or unsuitable for the food or drink being sold. / Economic operators shall bear no liability for hygiene or food safety problemsissues that may arise from the use of containers provided by consumers.the end user.

Change 47

Removed:The issue of liability is central to the implementation of refill systems. Economic operators should not be liable for the products they distribute to consumers if the containers supplied by the consumer are not hygienic.

Added:Article 25 – paragraph 4 a (new): 4a. From 1 January 2030, final distributors with an area, excluding all storage and dispatch areas, of more than 400m2 shall endeavour to dedicate 10% of their sales area to refill stations for both food and non-food products.

Article 26 – title: Re-use targets

Change 48

Removed:Reuse and refill are two very different notions, which deserve two distinct approaches, so as to not mix the concepts. Reuse is an industrial system, managed by economic actors, whereas refill is more a packaging reduction measure, managed primarily by the consumer. More transversally on the whole Article, this correction also corresponds to a reorganization of the Article, separating the concepts of "reuse between economic actors", "reuse in the e-commerce sector", and "reuse between economic actors and consumers"

Added:Article 26 – paragraph 1: 1. Economic operators, including online platforms, making large household appliances listed in point 1 of Annex II to Directive 2012/19/EU available on the market for the first time within the territory of a Member State : / (a) shall ensure that from 1 January 2030, 50% of those products are made available in reusable transport packaging within a system for reuse; / (b) shall aim to ensure that from 1 January 2040, 90% of those products are made available in reusable transport packaging within a system for reuse.

Removed:Article 26 – paragraph 1: 1. From 1 January 2030, economic operators making large household appliances listed in point 1 of Annex II to Directive 2012/19/EU available on the market for the first time within the territory of a Member State shall ensure that 90 % of those products are made available in reusable transport packaging within a system for re-use.

Removed:Simple correction, point 2 of the Annex to Directive 2012/19/EU did not refer to large household appliances.

Article 26 – paragraph 2: deleted / (deleted) / (deleted)

Change 49

Removed:The environmental benefits of reuse in the food and drink takeaway sector are difficult to prove, and are not really addressed in the Commission's impact assessment. Taking this into consideration, in addition to the lack of a large-scale system within the Member States, specific targets for reuse in these sectors cannot be set without a prior analysis.

Added:Article 26 – paragraph 3: deleted / (deleted) / (deleted)

Removed:Article 26 – paragraph 3 – point a: deleted

Added:Article 26 – paragraph 3 a (new): 3a. Where a final distributor makes non-alcoholic beverages in sales packaging available on the market: / (a) it shall ensure that, within the territory of a Member State from 1 January 2030, at least 20 % of those products are made available in reusable packaging within a system for re-use; / (b) it shall aim to ensure that from 1 January 2040, at least 35 % of those products are made available in reusable packaging within a system for re-use.

Removed:See justification for amendment to Article 26(2)

Added:Article 26 – paragraph 3 b (new): 3b. Where a final distributor makes alcoholic beverages, with the exception of wine and sparkling wines, in sales packaging available on the market within the territory of a Member State : / (a) it shall ensure that from 1 January 2030, at least 10 % of those products are made available in reusable packaging within a system for re-use; / (b) it shall aim to ensure that from 1 January 2040, at least 25 % of those products are made available in reusable packaging within a system for re-use; / (c) shall meet the targets referred to in points (a) and (b) of this paragraph in a manner that other alcoholic beverage category, as defined in Council Directive 92/83/EEC, fairly contributes to the re-use target; / (d) it shall ensure that brands owned by the final distributor contribute fairly to the re-use target; / (e) it shall allow manufacturers the flexibility to achieve reuse targets across their portfolio.

Removed:Article 26 – paragraph 3 – point b: deleted

Removed:See justification for amendment to Article 26(2)

Removed:Article 26 – paragraph 3 a (new): 3a. Where a final distributor makes non-alcoholic beverages in sales packaging available on the market within the territory of a Member State, it shall ensure that: / (a) from 1 January 2030, 20 % of those products are made available in reusable packaging within a system for re-use; / (b) from 1 January 2040, 35 % of those products are made available in reusable packaging within a system for re-use.

Removed:The restructuring of this article allows for an overall clarification of the objectives for the beverage sector, separating the alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverage sectors and aggregating the different provisions of Article 26 as presented by the Commission in relation to these sectors. In addition, the amendments to this article shift the responsibility from manufacturers and final distributors to final distributors only, following the logic of re-use legislation in several European countries, e.g. Spain and Austria.

Removed:Article 26 – paragraph 3 b (new): 3b. Where a final distributor makes alcoholic beverages in sales packaging available on the market within the territory of a Member State, it shall ensure that: / (a) from 1 January 2030, 10 % of those products are made available in reusable packaging within a system for re-use; / (b) from 1 January 2040, 25 % of those products are made available in reusable packaging within a system for re-use.

Removed:See justification for amendment 3a new

Article 26 – paragraph 4: deleted / (deleted) / (deleted)

Change 50

Removed:Reinstatement in paragraph 26(3a new).

Article 26 – paragraph 5: deleted / (deleted) / (deleted)

Change 51

Removed:Reinstatement in paragraph 26(3a new).

Article 26 – paragraph 6: deleted / (deleted) / (deleted)

Change 52

Removed:Reinstatement in paragraph 26(3a new).

Added:Article 26 – paragraph 7 – introductory part: 7. Economic operators using transport packaging or sales packaging only used for transportation within the territory of the Union in the form of pallets, plastic crates, foldable plastic boxes, pails or drums for the conveyance or packaging of products in conditions other than provided for under paragraphs 5 and 6:

Removed:Article 26 – paragraph 7 – introductory part: 7. Economic operators using transport packaging in the form of pallets, plastic crates, foldable plastic boxes, pails and drums for the conveyance or packaging of products in conditions other than provided for under paragraphs 5 and 6 shall ensure that:

Added:Article 26 – paragraph 7 – point a: (a) shall ensure that from 1 January 2030, at least 30 % of such packaging used is reusable packaging within a system for re-use;

Added:Article 26 – paragraph 7 – point b: (b) shall aim to ensure that from 1 January 2040, at least 90 % of such packaging used is reusable packaging within a system for re-use.

Added:Article 26 – paragraph 8 – introductory part: 8. Economic operators using transport packaging within the territory of the Union for the transport and delivery of non-food items made available on the market for the first time via e-commerce:

Added:Article 26 – paragraph 8 – point a: (a) shall ensure that from 1 January 2030, at least 10 % of such packaging used is reusable packaging within a system for re-use;

Added:Article 26 – paragraph 8 – point b: (b) shall aim to ensure that from 1 January 2040, at least 50 % of such packaging used is reusable packaging within a system for re-use;

Added:Article 26 – paragraph 9 – introductory part: 9. Economic operators using transport packaging within the territory of the Union for stabilization and protection of products put on pallets during transport, including, but not limited to, pallet wrappings or straps:

Added:Article 26 – paragraph 9 – point a: (a) shall ensure that from 1 January 2030, at least 10 % of such packaging used is reusable packaging within a system for re-use;

Added:Article 26 – paragraph 9 – point b: (b) shall aim to ensure that from 1 January 2040, at least 30 % of such packaging used for transport is reusable packaging within a system for re-use;

Added:Article 26 – paragraph 10 – introductory part: 10. Economic operators, including online platforms, using grouped packaging within the territory of the Union in the form of boxes, excluding cardboard, used outside of sales packaging to group a certain number of products to create a stock-keeping or distribution unit:

Added:Article 26 – paragraph 10 – point a: (a) shall ensure that from 1 January 2030, at least 10 % of such packaging used is reusable packaging within a system for re-use;

Added:Article 26 – paragraph 10 – point b: (b) shall aim to ensure that from 1 January 2040, at least 25 % of such packaging they used is reusable packaging within a system for re-use.

Article 26 – paragraph 11: 11. Targets laid down in this Article shall be calculated for the period of a calendar year.

Change 53

Changed:Article 26 – paragraph 12 – subparagraph 1 – introductory part: By [OP: Please insert the date = 24 months after the entry into forceFrom of1 thisJanuary Regulation]2030, 95% of the transport packaging used by an economic operator shall be reusable where it is used for transporting products:

Change 54

Removed:Setting a date for the application of the measure, as well as a 95% threshold, allowing some flexibility for certain packaging that cannot be reused, such as packaging for hazardous products

Added:Article 26 – paragraph 13 – subparagraph 1: From 1 January 2030, economic operators, including online platforms, delivering products to another economic operator within the same Member State shall use only reusable transport packaging for the purpose of the transportation of such products.

Removed:Article 26 – paragraph 13 – subparagraph 1: By [OP: Please insert the date = 24 months after the entry into force of this Regulation] economic operators delivering products to another economic operator within the same Member State shall use only reusable transport packaging for the purpose of the transportation of such products.

Removed:Setting a date for the application of the measure

Article 26 – paragraph 14 – introductory part: 14. Economic operators shall be exempted from the obligation to meet the targets in this Article if, during a calendar year, they:

Article 26 – paragraph 15: 15. Economic operators shall be exempted from the obligation to meet the targets in paragraphs 3a and 3b if, during a calendar year, they have a sales area of not more than 100 m2, including also all storage and dispatch areas.

Change 55

Changed:Article 26 – paragraph 16 – introductory part: 16. UntilIn 1order Januaryto 2027,take account of the Commissionlatest scientific and economic data and developments, and improving the overall environmental outcome, which may require specific waste streams departing from the hierarchy where this is justified by an independent and peer reviewed life-cycle assessment, the Commission shall be empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 58 to supplement this Regulation in order to establish:

Change 56

Removed:The possibility for the Commission to adopt delegated acts should be limited in time, both to explore the possibility of setting reuse targets for other sectors, but also for the possibility of exempting certain economic actors from the targets of this article.

Added:Article 26 – paragraph 16 – point a: (a) targets for other products than those covered by paragraphs 1 to 6 of this Article and other packaging formats than those in paragraphs 7 to 10, based on the positive experiences with measures taken by Member States under Article 45(2) and with a particular emphasis on the sectors of cold and hot takeaway beverages, takeaway food, detergents, hygiene, ready-prepared meals and pet food,