Pet food and packaging sectors push back on EU waste sorting guidelines

The European Pet Food Industry Federation (FEDIAF) has joined a coalition of 70 European associations from across the packaging value chain in calling on the European Commission to reconsider the current direction of the Joint Research Centre’s (JRC) draft guidelines on EU waste sorting labels.

The new framework, developed as part of the Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR), aims to standardize the labeling of packaging and receptacles to improve waste separation and recycling rates. 

The coalition argues that the proposed approach, which promotes color- and text-based sorting instructions, could fragment the EU Single Market, increase operational burdens for businesses and create confusion among consumers.

“As a consequence, a product would have to carry a label with up to 24 local terms, also contravening the objective of the labeling scheme to make sorting instructions clearer to consumers,” notes a joint statement released.

Signatories include EuroCommerce, FoodDrinkEurope (FDE), Flexible Packaging Europe (FPE), Independent Retail Europe, Plastics Europe and Toy Industries of Europe (TIE).

Undermining the Single Market?

The coalition further contends that the draft guidelines contradict the objectives of the Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR) and undermine the EU’s efforts to protect the Single Market, as outlined in the Single Market Strategy, which identifies divergent packaging labels as one of the top 10 barriers to intra-EU trade.

Under Article 12 of the PPWR, the commission is tasked with establishing EU-wide sorting instructions. 

However, the coalition’s statement notes that the current direction of the JRC guidelines could reintroduce national barriers by requiring translation into multiple languages and imposing complex labeling requirements, threatening the very harmonization the regulation seeks to achieve.

“We therefore urge the commission to reconsider the current direction of the JRC guidelines and ensure that the future EU labelling system aligns with the goals of EU-wide harmonization, large-scale recyclability and protection of the Single Market,” it says.

EU regulation 

In February, the European Commission introduced the PPWR to replace the existing Packaging Waste Directive. The new regulation will come into force in mid-2026 and apply to all packaging and packaging waste, with lighter requirements for micro-enterprises.

Under the PPWR, single-use plastic packaging and complex multi-layered packaging will be banned to reduce waste and encourage recycling. The rules will apply across all 27 EU member states.

As previously reported by GlobalPETS, around 99% of pet food packaging currently ends up in landfills rather than being properly recycled or reused.

According to estimates by Friends of the Earth, fewer than 1 in 20,000 plastic food pouches – commonly used in the pet sector – are recycled, making them more environmentally burdensome than single-use coffee cups.