GLOBAL
Packaging Regulations & DirectivesAround the World
Single-use plastic products (SUPs) are used once, or for a short period of time, before being thrown away. The impacts of this plastic waste on the environment and our health are global and can be drastic.
REGULATIONS & DIRECTIVES
Europe
Europe Single-Use Plastics Directive
Effective Date: May 2019 – The EU implemented the Single-Use Plastics Directive in 2019, which bans certain single-use plastic items by 2021. The directive targets items such as plastic cutlery, plates, straws, stirrers, cotton buds, and expanded polystyrene food containers. It also includes extended producer responsibility schemes and specific labeling requirements for certain plastic products. Read More…
United Kingdom
UK Packaging Tax
Effective date: April 2020 – A blanket ban on the use of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) within paper and cardboard food packaging. Read More…
Denmark
Denmark’s PFAS Ban On Paper And Cardboard Food Packaging
Effective date: July 2020 – A blanket ban on the use of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) within paper and cardboard food packaging. Read More…
United States of America
California Safer Food Packaging and Cookware Act of 2021 (AB1200)
Effective date: January 2023 – A total ban on the use, production and import of paper-based food packaging that contains PFAS, as well as a demand on cookware producers to disclose the use of any potentially harmful chemicals. Misleading advertising on packaging will also be prohibited. Read More…
Maine Extended Producer Responsibility(EPR) Law for Packaging
Effective date: TBC – July 2021, Gov. Janet Mills signed LD 1541 into law, making Maine the first state to pass an Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) law for packaging. The programs target most types of consumer packaging and require producers to pay into stewardship organizations. Read More…
Australia
Australian Plastic Packaging Directives
Effective date: Target to be met by 2025 – Industry-driven stewardship programs take the place of stringent bills and laws in Australia, with lots of domestic companies seeking to support environmental initiatives that will bring packaging production into the 21st century. Read More…
China
China’s Plastic Packaging Directives
Effective date: Phased compliance by 2025 – A staggered and staged list of directives designed to gradually phase out the use of single-use plastic packaging. Read More…
India
India’s Plastic Packaging Directives
Effective date: 2022 – A focused effort to entirely eradicate single-use plastic from India, by 2022. Presently, around 60% of plastic waste is effectively collected and recycled in India, but the remaining 40% is left to litter streets and contribute to landfill sites. Read More…