DRS “shortcuts and loopholes”: Crossindustry platform calls for stronger PPWR revisions
13 Dec 2023 — A platform of almost 50 organizations from 13 European countries is calling for the amendment of the
final PPWR wording — acknowledging the key role of a deposit return system (DRS), as a “necessary tool” to ensure
true circularity for single-use beverage containers in the EU.
The group says that in the plenary, all amendments aimed at making DRS voluntary for member states were rejected
by the European Parliament (EP), showing a firm position of the EP, in line with the original proposal by the European
Commission (EC), to have DRS become the norm in Europe.
But the platform stresses that the wording on DRS, a result of the EP’s vote, lacks the ambition and the strength of the
initial wording of the EC and could open the door to shortcuts and loopholes that could delay the implementation of
DRS across Europe.
Mandatory DRS for best practices
Alexis Eisenberg, director at the Reloop Platform, which is one of the contributors to the joint position, tells Packaging
Insights that reaching high targets such as 90% on plastic bottles and cans means using the best EPR tool to achieve
this ambition.
“That [reaching high recycling targets] is where DRS is in most
European countries (14 now and 21 in 2025) the right tool to
achieve this ambition. It provides full material circularity to get
more recycled content, decarbonize packaging, and open the
gateway to reuse systems as dual or mixed DRS for recycling and
reuse. This is necessary to have the mandatory DRS lever in
PPWR to push countries to reach the 90% targets with or without
DRS in a close calendar.
