Environment and sustainability – June 2025
Rules and regulations – Global, EU and US
The UN Ocean Conference concluded with a declaration (279 kB) reaffirming the commitment to develop a Global Plastics Treaty. The next step will take place in August during INC-5.2. EU: The EC has adopted an Implementing Regulation that classifies countries according to their risk of deforestation when producing the commodities covered by the EUDR. The benchmarking methodology is outlined in a working document. The EC has introduced Omnibus IV, a new package to simplify rules and reduce bureaucracy. A Eunomia study (3.46 MB) for Ecommerce Europe highlights the administrative burdens posed by fragmented national EPR frameworks and evaluates the potential of an EU-level EPR one-stop shop. Eunomia has also produced a whitepaper for SAP spotlighting the PPWR’s requirements and how businesses can develop strategies and data systems for compliance. You can download the whitepaper after filling in your details. CRI has published a factsheet (530 kB) on which countries around the world have a DRS and/or an EPR. A report (6.08 MB) published by the Rethink Plastic alliance shows how governments can make the most of the opportunities provided by the PPWR. JRC has published the Zero pollution monitoring and outlook 2025 (62.17 MB). US: SB 5284 on EPR in Washington and draft regulations to implement SB 54 on EPR in California have been published. A new AMERIPEN study reveals progress and challenges in meeting recycled content goals for packaging. You can download the report after filling in your details. Eunomia has published studies on waste management of plastics (14.81 MB), bioplastics (11.97 MB) and paper (5.32 MB) in the US and Canada.
Rules and regulations in the different countries
Belgium: As of 2025, Flemish rubbish bags must be made from 100% recycled plastic, half of which must be PCR. However, this proves not always feasible. OVAM (in Dutch) reports that this will now be reduced to 90% in the Vlarema (in Dutch). Denmark: Draft legislation on packaging requirements, EPR and other waste collected with packaging waste, has been sent to the EC. France: Citeo (in French) reports that the DRS system is being trialled in four regions. NL all info is in Dutch unless stated otherwise: On 3 June, a number of motions were adopted that were submitted during the two-minute debate on the circular economy, including motions on including products from abroad and juice bottles in the DRS. Techniek Nederland has published the Sector Plan for Electronics Packaging 2025-2030 (1.89 MB). CPNL (in English) has analysed the plastics flow to gain more understanding and identify what is needed for circularity. You can download the report after filling in your details. Switzerland: The results (in French, 2.29 MB) of the The Big Plastic Count (in French), published by Greenpeace (in French), show that the population produces 9 billion pieces of household plastic waste per year. UK: The Scottish government has published regulations on the DRS with a starting date of 1 October 2027.
Research and reports
Sensoneo’s Global Waste Index 2025 analyses the waste management of 38 countries and ranks the largest polluters. Israel tops the list, Chile is second and the US ranks third. A Tsinghua University study (1.94 MB) published in Nature Communications Earth & Environment, shows that the global plastic recycling rate has remained stagnant at 9% in 2022. In a recent report (12.61 MB), CEFLEX assesses five promising recycling technologies for flexible packaging and how they can work in combination to add value to different feedstocks. FAU reports on a study (13.69 MB) published in Nature mapping microplastic distribution from the surface to the deep sea at a global scale. A University of Zagreb study (3.71 MB) published in Recycling shows that biodegradable PCL coatings do not impede paper recycling.
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