The Alliance for Circular Packaging, which is made up of leaders in the production of packaging – Alpla, Srpska fabrika stakla, Greiner Packaging, Tetra Pak – actively participated in the public discussion related to the adoption of a new legal framework that will regulate packaging waste management issues in Serbia. , Ball Packaging, Smurfit Kappa. The Alliance offered its knowledge and experience in this area and said that new system solutions should bring long-term positive effects and that they must not be unfavorable for some of the materials used in packaging, because the complete production capacities in Serbia may be endangered.
According to Nenad Đurđević, the president of the Alliance, the new legal solutions should contribute to a real reduction of waste, an increase in circularity, as well as an increase in the rate of recycling when it comes to packaging.
He also added that new legal solutions must not be a dead letter on paper or a wish list that cannot be put into practice.
“It is for this reason that the Alliance wants to share with the authorities, primarily the Ministry of Environmental Protection, its knowledge on this issue, the rich experience when it comes to recycling and circularity that the companies that make up the Alliance have. We also want to point out possible risks, but also to offer effective solutions and mechanisms that will enable an increase in the rate of circularity and recycling. We want to avoid the possibility of passing inadequate legal solutions that had long-term negative effects on the environment as well as on the economy,” says Đurđević.
As stated in the Alliance, this issue is of great importance for Serbia on several levels. In addition to the ecological aspect that the Alliance put in the foreground, because the law must ensure efficiency in the collection of packaging waste, which will then enable the collected packaging to be recycled, they also pointed to the economic aspect. They pointed out that alignment with the new EU legislation is extremely important, because it is the only way for domestic products (packaging produced in Serbia) to continue to be competitive in other markets.
Most of the companies that founded the Alliance produce packaging from one material (glass, aluminum, cardboard and paper packaging, multi-layer cardboard packaging, PET and other plastic packaging) and if the new solutions are unfavorable for some of the mentioned materials, the complete production capacities may be endangered. .
It is estimated that the companies gathered in the Alliance for Circular Packaging cover 65 percent of the entire packaging market, and their annual turnover is more than 660 million euros.
In the field of environmental protection, Serbia has committed to meet the European Union’s goals by 2030, which oblige it to recycle 85 percent of cardboard and paper waste, 75 percent of glass, 60 percent of aluminum and 55 percent of plastic waste. In order to reach the planned quantities, the focus should be on collecting waste from citizens, as well as adding a deposit system (DRS) to the existing system of extended producer responsibility (EPR), which brings high percentages in recycling. The introduction of a deposit system for the collection of packaging waste, within which citizens would get back, for example, 5 dinars for each returned bottle, can or multi-layered cardboard packaging, would help to collect about 90 percent of this type of waste and double the current recycling rate, which is about 40 percent of total waste from the observed materials.
In addition to the deposit system, the members of the Alliance support the position of the Eunomy study, which recommended the collection of packaging in two streams. One stream collects plastic, metal, glass and cardboard packaging that is not included in the deposit, while the other stream is for paper and cardboard.
The companies in the Alliance are committed to the principle of circularity, which is also confirmed by the goals they have set for themselves ending with the year 2030. Ball Corporation plans to recycle 90 percent of produced aluminum cans by the deadline, the recycling rate in all markets where Ball operates should reach 85 percent, ALPLA has set a goal of at least 25 percent of rPET in products, Greiner aims for 100 percent circular business when it comes to plastic single-use packaging, reusable packaging and compostable packaging, Staklarna Hrastnik – Serbian Glass Factory has set a goal of having at least 50 percent post-recycled glass content, Tetra Pak wants us to achieve a recycling rate of at least 70 percent by 2030. year, and Smurfit Kappa doo is engaged in the production of exclusively recycled paper.
Source: Alliance for Circular Packaging
Source: Energetski Portal by energetskiportal.rs.
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