Recital 45

(45) A high level of protection of environment and human health, in particular with regard to the level of emissions into the air, water and soil, is necessary for several reasons. First, climate change is a global phenomenon that has no boundaries and its effects do not have a direct connection to the source of the emissions of greenhouse gases: countries with low emissions of greenhouse gases can experience effects of climate change that are disproportionate to their individual contributions to the global emissions of greenhouse gases. Second, water systems are interconnected, for example via oceanic currents, and past experience shows that pollution, including plastic waste pollution, happening in one part of the planet can spread widely to other oceans and continents. Third, emissions into the soil can have not only local, but also transboundary effects, especially when those emissions pass into the watercourses. The promotion of the use of recycled content in plastic packaging is based on the premise that the recycled content itself was produced in an environmentally sustainable way, so that the carbon footprint is reduced and the circular economy is encouraged. To that end, certain safeguards need to be put in place in order to ensure that the way in which recycled content is obtained does not cancel out the environmental benefits of using such recycled content in subsequent plastic packaging. It is therefore necessary to address the related environmental concerns in a non-discriminatory manner with regard to both domestically produced and imported plastic packaging. To that end, imports into the Union should be subject to equivalent conditions with regard to emissions and separate collection and sustainability criteria for recycling technologies.

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Source: EUR-Lex CELLAR · retrieved 2026-08-26 · Text as adopted (Official Journal); later amendments are not incorporated in this text.