The European Directive on circular economy obliges Member States to regulate packaging labelling, but each State has different rules
The European Directive 2018/852 of 30 May 2018 on circular economy establishes that 65% of solid urban waste produced in Europe must be recycled by 2035. The Directive contains challenging objectives for the 28 Member States, to be reached through providing incentives for each recovery operation alternative to landfill disposal. Even more ambitious objectives concern packaging, with an overall recycling target of 70% by 2030 and sub-objectives for each supply chain, such as 85% recycling for paper and cardboard packaging. To this end, environmental labelling has been introduced for packaging, which we, as manufacturers of disposable table linen, have already adopted.
To reach these ambitious objectives, it is important to indicate the nature of the materials used for packaging, in order to facilitate collection, reuse and recovery, including recycling. The aim is of course to minimize the environmental impact of packaging and of the resulting waste. However, the matter is complex, as to date only some European States have transposed the European Directive, and the national laws in force are not based on uniform practices and standards. In Italy, on 1 January 2023 the eco-label became mandatory: the material used and how to dispose of it in the separate waste collection must be indicated on all packaging intended for the consumer. In France, as from 9 March 2023 it will be mandatory to affix the Triman logo on packaging and on some consumer goods.
In practice, each European State has its own rules, and therefore we have prepared to ensure compliance with the regulations in all markets to which we export our disposable table linen. We are able to provide our customers with precise information both through our in-house staff, who have attended special training courses, and with the aid of external consultants specialized in these matters. Consequently, we offer an actual consultancy service on the correct labelling of our products.