Overview
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ABSTRACT
Despite its qualities the plastic is poorly considered because of the pollution it causes especially in the marine environments.
Since 2015, the European Union has authorised Member States to take measures to reduce the use of plastic, or even to prohibit it, as is the case for light body bags, certain single-use products when they are entirely made of plastic (cups, plates and cutlery). The free distribution of plastic water bottles is prohibited in establishments receiving the public and in companies. Microbeads are also being phased out of cosmetics.
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Read the articleAUTHOR
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Sylvain MARTIN: Lawyer at the Paris Court of Appeal
INTRODUCTION
Plastic is a material with many qualities, but it's also an unloved one. During the COVID19 pandemic that began in 2020, the hygienic character of plastic was brought back into the spotlight, but it remains a material that is poorly considered from an environmental point of view by public opinion, which is a little schizophrenic since it hates the packaging it uses every day and which protects its health. To save turtles and, more generally, reduce marine and land-based pollution caused by plastics, and also to protect public health from potentially harmful additives, the European Union authorizes, and sometimes even obliges, member states to limit or even ban the use of plastics.
Identifying the products affected by the anti-plastic measures is like drawing up a list of banned products, including lightweight plastic bags (less than 50 microns thick) unless they are compostable, as well as straws, cups, plates, cutlery and stirrers if they are made entirely of plastic, or food containers and fast-food glasses made of expanded polystyrene. Also banned are plastic reheating dishes, non-compostable labels, oxodegradable plastics and microbeads in cosmetics. Similarly, free water in plastic bottles must no longer be offered in establishments open to the public or in companies.
These bans are spread over a decade, from 2016 to 2026.
Because of the principle of free trade within the single European market, restrictions on the use of plastics and bans are rules of exception. What is not expressly prohibited remains authorized. R&D therefore remains essential to find alternative solutions, particularly for "home compostables" outside industrial units.
Some products escape the ban because even with plastic (or even thanks to plastic) they offer indispensable services: intimate hygiene products, wet wipes for the body or cleaning, tobacco products and cups. However, we don't want people to just throw them away, because they often don't know that these products contain plastic. Since July 3, 2021, Europe has imposed a pictogram representing a turtle in danger in the sea because of these products. A very ugly logo to make people disgusted with plastic.
Marketing departments are also in the crosshairs: from now on, it is forbidden to claim that a plastic product is compostable if it is not "home compostable", and it is no longer possible to make general claims about the environmental virtues of a product; specific claims must be communicated.
Note: this article sets out the anti-plastic measures as set out in European and French legislation, without any approval or disapproval on the part of the author or publisher.
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KEYWORDS
packaging | european standard | regulation | bio-based plastic | recycled plastic | plastics
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Restrictive measures applied to plastics
Bibliography
- (1) - Rapport collectif interministériel - Quel potentiel 3R d'ici 2025 ? Réduction, Réemploi, Recyclage pour les emballages en plastique - (2020) http://www.ecologie.gouv.fr Le référentiel légal des mesures antiplastique, la situation des filières de...
Guides
Environmental claims on product packaging; CNE opinions and recommendations
Conseil National de l'Emballage, (2021)
Technical guide: eco-design of self-adhesive labels
Publisher: UNFEA UNION NATIONALE DES FABRICANTS D'ÉTIQUETTES ADHÉSIVES, (2020)
In collaboration with Citeo
Written by François Charlet,...
Standards and norms
Tentative list :
Standards for industrial composting :
- Packaging – Requirements for packaging recoverable by composting and biodegradation – Test program and evaluation criteria for final acceptance of packaging (corrected version) (AFNOR classification index: H60-140) - NF EN 13432 - 11-00
- Compostable Product Test – Composting - ASTM D64000 - 2004
...
Regulations
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European Commission guidelines of May 31, 2021
"Commission guidelines on single-use plastic products in accordance with Directive 2019/904 of 5 June 2019 on the reduction of the impact of certain plastic products on the environment" (55 pages).
This document gives numerous examples of how the regulations banning certain single-use plastic products have...
Patents
Numerous patents have been filed for bottle corks and plastic water bottles.
All French, European and international patents on : https://www.inpi.fr/fr/base-brevets
Directory
Organizations – Federations – Associations (non-exhaustive list)
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European Union website
all European laws (directives and regulations) in the "Consolidated texts" section > Search in "Consolidated texts".
official comments
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