The EU will ban the sale of conventional shrink-wrapped multipacks of bottled water beginning this summer time, in accordance with a submit circulating on-line.
amongst them share your declare Virginie Jolon, a far-right lawmaker from the French Nationwide Meeting and European Patriots group, claims new EU guidelines will pressure shoppers to hold their bottles individually.
These posts check with the EU’s new Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR).
Nevertheless, that is deceptive. The legislation kinds a part of a broader EU initiative to cut back packaging waste and enhance recyclability throughout the EU. Some provisions of the regulation will come into pressure on 12 August 2026, however the ban on multi-pack rings and packaging for bottled water has not been launched.
A couple of days after posting, Joron issued a press launch about X in response to fact-checking by French broadcaster TF1. In it, she blamed “complete regulatory uncertainty” for the mineral water business.
She additionally stated the unique submit had explicitly used the phrase “in the long run” to check with the general function of the rules, somewhat than the blanket ban that will be launched on August 12.
Scale back packaging and waste
The primary measures, which is able to take impact on August 12, primarily introduce new restrictions on the usage of PFAS (a bunch of persistent chemical substances also known as “everlasting chemical substances”) in food-contact packaging supplies. These substances are receiving growing consideration as a result of they’re troublesome to decompose and may accumulate within the atmosphere.
This wide-ranging regulation goals to cut back pointless packaging and assist meet the EU’s aim of making certain all packaging on the European market could be recycled or reused by 2030.
It additionally goals to cut back the rise in packaging waste generated throughout the bloc. In response to Eurostat, the EU generated 79.7 million tonnes of packaging waste in 2023. This equates to a median of 35.3 kg of plastic packaging waste per individual.
Are multi-packs of bottled water additionally coated?
A part of the confusion stems from provisions concentrating on grouped plastic packaging. This regulation locations limits on sure types of plastic shrink wrap used to bundle merchandise, comparable to some multipacks.
Nevertheless, this rule solely applies to plastic group packaging. Packaging constructed from different supplies continues to be permitted.
Importantly, this regulation additionally consists of exceptions the place grouped packaging is required for dealing with or transportation of products.
Within the case of bottled water, multipacks are anticipated to qualify for that exemption as they’re used to soundly transport comparatively heavy hundreds, however the European Fee has not but revealed detailed steerage confirming how the foundations shall be utilized in follow.
In distinction, this regulation is primarily geared toward eliminating pointless single-use plastic collective packaging supposed to encourage shoppers to purchase a number of gadgets in bulk, comparable to plastic-wrapped multipacks of beverage cans and different retail merchandise.
The European Fee plans to publish implementation steerage by February 2027 clarifying which grouped packaging codecs are topic to restrictions and which exceptions apply.
