Umweltbundesamt
Dear Reader,
We’re pleased to inform you about our latest publications addressing ongoing and upcoming discussions on European environment and climate policy. This issue is dedicated in particular to the draft packaging and packaging waste regulation (PPWR).
Happy reading! For questions or more information, please get in touch at EU@uba.de
Kind regards,
EU relations team
German Environment Agency (UBA)
UBA welcomes the EU Commission's proposal for a Regulation on packaging and packaging waste (PPWR), as it contains good approaches to reducing the environmental impact of packaging and packaging waste over its entire life cycle. Packaging causes considerable resource consumption while having a very short use phase. In some areas, however, the proposal is not ambitious enough from an environmental point of view. Six fact sheets have now been published to support UBA’s recommendations for adapting the PPWR. They provide facts and figures, our experience with administrative implementation and relevant background information on the following topics:
Apart from that, UBA strongly recommends that the PPWR is based on Article 192 TFEU on environmental protection as an additional legal basis in order to allow for Member States to maintain higher environmental requirements.
6 Factsheets: How to improve the draft Packaging and Packing Waste Regulation (PPWR) https://www.umweltbundesamt.de/en/topics/uba-publishes-fact-sheets-on-proposal-of-eu
Join also our breakfast session on the PPWR with MEP Delara Burkhardt on 26th April, 8:00-9:30 in the European Parliament. It will be livestreamed as well (see Events section)
The lack of environmental data, especially for medicinal products approved before 2005 poses a problem with regard to an efficient risk management. An active substance-based review system (monographs) that systematically and comprehensively collects and reviews data on fate and effects of active substances in the environment could help to address and to solve the above-mentioned issues of data gaps and data availability, as well as harmonisation of assessments. UBA therefore fully supports the European Commission’s intention to establish an environmental monograph system for active pharmaceutical substances in human and veterinary medicinal products.
This scientific opinion paper outlines existing problems related to data gaps, non-harmonized assessments, insufficient post-market control, and data transparency of pharmaceuticals, and identifies possible solutions through the introduction of a monograph system for active pharmaceutical substances. From UBA's point of view, monographs are the crucial bridge between risk assessment, risk communication and risk management and this across different regulatory areas. The current revision of the general pharmaceutical legislation of the EU offers the opportunity to establish a monograph system for active substances for both veterinary medicinal products and medicinal products for human use.
Scientific Opinion Paper: Monographs of Environmental Data for Active Substances in Veterinary Pharmaceuticals https://www.umweltbundesamt.de/publikationen/monographs-of-environmental-data-for-active
Scientific Opinion Paper: Improving environmental protection in EU pharmaceutical legislation https://www.umweltbundesamt.de/publikationen/improving-environmental-protection-in-eu
In 2020 alone, the EU-27 generated 79.6 million tons of packaging waste in total, or 178 kg per capita. And the amount of packaging and packaging waste is increasing every year. In order to save resources and achieve the EU’s circular economy goals, waste prevention needs to be strengthened. All packaging should be reusable or recyclable in an economically feasible way by 2030. This will enable the achievement of recycling targets and the production of high quality recyclates.
The European Commission has published a proposal for a Regulation on packaging and packaging waste (PPWR) at the end of 2022 that contains a series of measures addressing those aspects
We would like to invite you to the breakfast session “The Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation – How to reduce, reuse and recycle packaging” organised by Delara Burkhardt, MEP, and the German Environment Agency on 26 April, 8:00 – 9:30 h (Brussels time).
Delara Burkhardt and UBA experts will be joined in the discussion by:
- Mr. Mattia Pellegrini, European Commission, Directorate General for Environment
- Jeanne Haushalter, Reusable Packaging Europe
- Jean-Pierre Schweitzer, European Environmental Bureau
The event will be livestreamed.
Sign up here to receive the log-in information for the livestream: www.umweltbundesamt.de/en/packagingwaste2023
On 30 November 2022, the Commission proposed an EU carbon removal certification framework (CRCF). The proposed framework could undermine the environmental integrity of EU climate policies. This risk is aggravated by the fact that the EU has not agreed on the role of removals for the time past the year 2030. This report assesses the Commission’s proposal for the CRCF and discusses interlinkages ...read more
On the basis of a literature review, this paper outlines the main mitigation options for agricultural activities and the broader food system on the supply and the demand side. Economic, policy/legal barriers, technical barriers, socio-cultural barriers, institutional barriers as well as biophysical or environmental barriers hinder the implementation of these options. The identified barriers are...read more
The discussion paper explores several options for the political phase of the first global stocktake (GST) under the Paris Agreement, which will be concluded at the end of 2023. This phase could be organised by thematic area as defined by the GST or structured by sector. Organising the political phase by thematic area possibly facilitates high-level participation and visibility, while organising...read more
Umweltbundesamt (German Environment Agency)
Presidential Office
International Relations
Wörlitzer Platz 1
06844 Dessau-Roßlau, Germany
Editor:
EU Relations Office
Nicole Adler, Stefanie Wieck, Tim Schubert, Lena Vierke
Email: eu@uba.de
Created on
The UBA’s motto, For our environment (“Für Mensch und Umwelt”), sums up our mission pretty well, we feel. In this video we give an insight into our work.
