On December 28, 2023, the Royal Decree on packaging and packaging waste was published in the Official State Gazette (BOE), which establishes a series of objectives and measures to reduce the impact of packaging waste on the environment.
One of the main objectives of the Royal Decree is to reduce the weight of packaging waste by 13% by 2025 and 15% by 2030.
Another important measure is the presentation of whole fresh fruits and vegetables in bulk in supermarkets, without packaging, except for lots of 1.5 kg or more and varieties that have seals or are at risk of spoilage.
Recycling and recovery targets have also been established at the national level and by autonomous community, both globally and by material. Compostable packaging waste collected together with biowaste should be collected separately.
Among other measures, it establishes the obligation to mark containers, either on the container or on the label, with the material code, the reusable condition and the symbol associated with the DRS. In the case of household packaging, the container in which the packaging waste should be deposited should also be indicated. The term “environmentally friendly” and any other term that could lead to its abandonment in the environment has also been banned.
Companies will have until this month to register in the register of packaging producers and will have to indicate whether their packaging is domestic, industrial and/or commercial and whether it is single-use or reusable.
The R.D. additionally establishes as an aspirational target 20% recycled content by 2025 and 60% recycled content by 2030 for boxes, drums, pallets and wholesale storage containers.
