Health and Environment Justice Support (HEJSupport) has joined more than 160 civil society organisations, consumer groups, universities, reuse businesses, and communities affected by plastic and PFAS pollution in signing an open letter urging EU institutions to reject calls to delay or weaken the Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR).
The letter responds to a lobbying push by major food and beverage corporations, including Coca-Cola, Heineke, McDonald`s, Kraft Heinz and Mondelez, seeking to postpone key implementation deadlines and reopen core provisions of the Regulation only months before its application date in August 2026. The requests of the signatories could weaken restrictions on harmful PFAS chemicals in food packaging and expand exemptions to keep large volumes of single-use packaging on the market, undermining the EU’s objective to reduce packaging waste at a time when waste levels remain high. Notably, a number of signatories and active sponsors of this initiative are headquartered outside the EU, raising questions about the extent to which corporate interests beyond Europe are seeking to undermine democratically agreed EU law.
HEJSupport supports the timely and full implementation of the PPWR as a cornerstone of the EU’s circular economy agenda. The Regulation includes important measures to reduce packaging waste, strengthen reuse systems, improve recyclability, and restrict the use of harmful chemicals, such as PFAS, in food-contact packaging. The civil society letter stresses that delaying these measures would pose risks to public health, the environment, and the safe circularity of materials.
The civil society letter also highlights that the PPWR was adopted following extensive public consultation, democratic debate, and years of negotiations. Reopening agreed provisions at the final stage would send a troubling signal that major corporate actors can pressure institutions to reverse environmental protections after legislation has already been adopted.
For HEJSupport, the debate around the PPWR is also closely linked to broader concerns around toxic chemicals in plastics and packaging. Recycling alone cannot solve the packaging waste crisis if hazardous substances continue to circulate through products and waste streams. Strong prevention measures, reuse systems, transparency and traceability of chemicals in products, and restrictions on hazardous chemicals are essential to achieving a truly toxic-free circular economy.
The civil society letter specifically reaffirms the importance of:
- maintaining the PFAS ban in food-contact packaging,
- upholding restrictions on unnecessary single-use packaging,
- and preserving binding waste prevention and reuse obligations.
HEJSupport remains committed to supporting ambitious implementation of the PPWR and broader efforts to reduce plastic pollution, increase transparency and traceability of chemicals in products, and protect health and the environment across the full lifecycle of plastics.
