EU packaging guidelines to be published shortly

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12 Jan 2010, the EuropeanCommission is to provide extensive guidelines as to what defines packaging under its Packaging and Packaging Waste Directive. The directive requires packaging producers to pay towards the cost of recycling. Under Article 3(1) of the directive, packaging is defined as "all products made of any materials of any nature to be used for the containment, protection, handling, delivery and presentation of goods, from raw materials to processed goods, from the producer to the user or the consumer". Annex 1 mentions items such as sweet boxes and film wrap around a CD as examples of packaging, while tool boxes and tea bags are considered non-packaging. The commission intends to expand this list to separately include flexible and non-flexible packaging materials. The EU Commission will make a formal proposal on the issue by mid-February 2010. ...cont´d

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