The new roadmap is published a year after the EU first unveiled its ambitious circular economy action plan to cut waste, emissions and pollution
A new roadmap seeking to guide the packaging industry towards a sustainable future was published today, with a view to embedding circularity and sustainable sourcing as standard throughout the beverage packaging supply chain.
Compiled by the Alliance for Beverage Cartons and the Environment (ACE), the roadmap draws on the insights and resources of ACE members including SIG Combibloc, Tetra Pak, BillerudKorsnäs, and El
To achieve this, by 2030 ACE members aim to ensure beverage cartons are only made from renewable material and/or from recycled content, that packaging manufacturers use more fibres and less plastic, and that "all materials used to produce beverage cartons meet the highest sustainability sourcing standards", the roadmap states.
"The industry has set high and ambitious standards for the next 10 years," said Annick Carpentier, director general of ACE. "We look forward to fostering a dialogue with EU decision makers to ensure that the necessary regulatory conditions are in place to support the industry's journey towards beverage cartons as the sustainable packaging choice for today and tomorrow."
A year ago this month, the EU unveiled its Circular Economy Action Plan, introducing stricter rules for packaging, food, plastics, textiles, construction, and electronics in a bid to cut down on waste and pollution. The Commission, which adopted the strategy a few months later in May, described it as "one of the main building blocks" of its European Green Deal, through which it is developing a raft of policies and measures designed to help the EU become the world's first net zero continent by 2050.