How packaging is regulated around the world

Governments across the world are responding to the packaging problem – particularly single-use packaging – through regulations that both minimise environmental waste and improve waste management processes.

Europe

In the EU, the Packaging and Packaging Waste Directive has been in place since December 1994, with multiple revisions and additions since. This is particularly focused on developing a circular economy, as well as creating a harmonised EU policy framework for the sustainable use of biodegradable and compostable plastics. The EU also has a Directive relating to single-use plastics, which aims to tackle the 10 most problematic single-use plastic items in Europe.

UK

In the UK, any business or organisation that produces or uses packaging, or sells packaged goods, may be classed as an ‘obligated packaging producer’. They must follow a set of rules designed to reduce the amount of packaging produced, reduce how much packaging goes to landfill, and increase the amount of packaging that’s recycled. The UK is aiming for a 73% packaging recycling rate by 2030. As of April 2022, the UK has also implemented a plastic packaging tax.

USA

While the USA has comprehensive federal legislation on things like waste disposal and recycling, there’s no national guidance on packaging – regulations are instead left up to individual states and local jurisdictions. California has a Rigid Plastic Packaging Container Law (RPPC), for example, which stipulates that such containers must be made from a minimum of 25% recycled materials. 

Maine, meanwhile, has recently introduced an extended producer responsibility programme for packaging, designed to reduce the volume of packaging materials in the state. Elsewhere, states including Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Vermont and Washington have banned disposable plastic bags. While not technically packaging, this is an important first step in tackling the United States’ mounting waste problem.

Australia

While Australia has some loose national guidance around optimising and recovering packaging, its programmes are generally industry-driven, rather than overseen directly by the government. The Australian Packaging Covenant has been signed by some 1,500 businesses, all aiming to make single-use plastic packaging obsolete by 2025 through a range of targets.

China

China has a staggered list of directives designed to gradually phase out the use of single-use plastic packaging, and non-degradable bags, disposable plastic tableware and disposable plastic products offered by the hospitality sector will be banned everywhere by 2025. 

Interestingly, while China is a major producer of plastic packaging, Chinese citizens create a very small amount of plastic waste themselves – around 18kg per person per year, compared to 53kg in the USA and 44kg in the UK.

India   

India’s Plastic Waste Management Rules aim to eradicate single-use plastic from the country by 2022, although it’s not clear yet whether it will meet that target. However, the manufacture, supply, storage and use of plastics is already in place in the majority of the country’s 29 states, while Mumbai became the country’s largest city to implement a complete ban on single-use plastics in 2018.

Elsewhere in Asia, other countries, including Thailand have introduced policies to tackle plastics waste. And in Africa a number of countries including Kenya and Rwanda, have banned the use of plastic bags.