14.7.2015   

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 230/33

Rapporteur:

Mr Gonçalo LOBO XAVIER

Co-rapporteur:

Mr Nicola KONSTANTINOU

1.1.

The European packaging industry faces several challenges. Its critical role in a number of sectors places the industry in a central position as regards the competitiveness of the European economy. Europe must retain leadership of this industry and should keep up trends concerning environmental sustainability, safety and branding issues in packaging. The EESC believes that this leadership must be based around four key pillars: resource efficiency; R & D and innovation; social dialogue; sustainability and adaptation.

2.1.

The packaging industry serves a wide variety of purposes in our daily lives: protection (prevents breakages, spoilage and contamination, increases shelf-life); promotion (product ingredients, features, promotional messages and branding); information (product identification, preparation and usage, nutritional and storage data, safety warnings, contact information, opening instructions, end-of-life management); convenience (product preparation, serving, storage and portioning); utilisation (provision to consumer, retail and transport units); handling (transport from producer to retailer, point of sale display); and waste reduction (processing, re-use of by-products, storage and transport energy).

2.2.

Given the immense variety that exists within the sector, the packaging industry necessarily requires a vast and varied approach. As a valuable sector, it is necessary to adopt a careful attitude which takes account of its diversity, the need to comply with rules and legislation and, of course, the competitiveness of the sector.

2.3.

While there are a number of critical concerns common to most sectors, individual subsectors naturally face their own set of specific problems. This is due to the fact that specific products are subject to different requirements, particularly in terms of standards and certifications.

2.4.

The use of packaging to communicate innovation and quality is an opportunity for Europe. To this end, several measures aim to identify clearly the quality and innovation of the products contained in a given package. This is a never-ending challenge that is crucial for differentiating EU products from those originating in other parts of the world.

2.5.

The EESC believes that there are two further issues that are also vital for this discussion: the logistical aspect of the packaging industry and access to the raw materials used by the sector.

In light of these two issues, it is easy to see just why the challenges facing the European packaging industry are so enormous.

The main objective of this document is to inform the European institutions of a number of recommendations which the EESC/CCMI consider to be critical for boosting the European economy in general and the packaging sector in particular. As in other areas, Europe must once again lead the way and call for compliance with rules and legislation that genuinely help the economy and that are carried out in a sustainable manner with a view to boosting the internal market: confidence and compliance with legal requirements should be the watchwords, not protection.

2.6.

The specific case of the materials used is a critical issue that requires careful analysis in order to respect the open market and ensure a level playing field for all market players.

2.7.

The EESC considers that establishing a coordinated and inclusive dialogue between sector stakeholders will ensure that the sector remains sustainable and provides decent employment in the long term and is better able to cope with change and adapt to the needs of consumers and wider societal demands. In this respect, social dialogue’s potential to strengthen the sector is not being fully realised and this needs to be addressed urgently.

2.8.

If the sector needs to adapt to change and transform to meet market requirements, the only way to achieve sustainability and equitable remedies is through a multi-channel approach to stakeholder engagement. In order to address issues related to the sector, its structure, competitiveness and related issues such as employment, skills, adaptation and the future viability of the sector and its workforce, properly structured and organised social dialogue should be encouraged by the Commission. In addition, to provide a platform for the expression of interests by a wider audience (i.e. society and consumers, workers, employers, governments, etc.), a channel of two-way communication between the various actors and institutions ought to be created. In this way, all concerned parties can be involved in the sector and in its broader and central role in society.

3.1.

The European packaging sector encompasses a broad range of activities and although it shares similar problems with other industries, the sector faces a number of unique and significant challenges at the present and in the short to medium term. The packaging sector comprises glass, metal, plastic, wood and paper packaging companies which, in total, employ over 6,5 million people in Europe (3) (Eurostat).

3.2.

The packaging sector represents not only a diverse range of products, but also a variety of different processes that are distinct and which are utilised to create products for specific markets and particular uses, each requiring different environments and producing a variety of challenges and characteristics.

For instance, energy use is a significant cost factor for glass packaging companies. Moreover, since up to 80 % of waste glass packaging is recycled, glass recycling is a significant contributor to the EU targets for recycling and lowering the region’s carbon footprint.

3.3.

The connection between the materials used for packaging is also an important aspect and the increased transport costs for the transit of materials, such as corrugated board and tubes to be used for packaging, has had a negative effect on the packaging sector. Thus, the impact of energy costs throughout the sector’s supply chain — note the distance that products, such as printed material, travel before they are used by packaging companies — is passed on to the packaging sector.

3.4.

Metal can be recycled over and over again without any diminution in quality, which creates additional value to the sector’s contribution to the EU recycling targets.

3.5.

Container glass is used to produce bottles and jars and other packaging products and is the largest sector in the EU glass industry, representing about 60 % of total glass production and employing 90  000 people in the EU (Eurostat). Employment in the glass sector overall has declined due to increased automation, industry consolidation and low-cost competition. Imports from outside the EU provide increasing competition and there has been a rise in the number of production plants in countries close to or bordering the EU with lower labour costs and laxer regulations; this creates short-term excess capacity and puts pressure on prices.

France, Germany and Italy are the largest producers in the EU, accounting the next largest producers in the EU. Glass is a resource efficient material and can be recycled an infinite number of times. For instance, energy use is a significant cost factor for glass packaging companies and less so for others. As up to 80 % of waste glass packaging is recycled, glass recycling is a significant contributor to the EU targets for recycling and lowering the region’s carbon footprint. However, due to the materials they use and the products produced, other segments of the sector will rely to a lesser extent on energy.

3.6.

If we consider the use of paper or similar materials, the sector’s supply chain is complicated by the fact that the companies responsible for processing paper and paperboard packaging — for products such as cartons, corrugated cardboard, boxboard and containerboard — tend to produce paper themselves and are part of a circular process involving the pulping and de-inking of used materials as well as the use of raw products from wood.

3.7.

On the other hand, plastic packaging also has its specific features: not all packaging subsectors are represented by several industry bodies. Plastic packaging supplies markets other than those mentioned above — with end-users such as car manufacturers, cosmetics companies and companies producing health products and containers for pre-packed food. Yet there is just one single industry association for this subsector. Plastic packaging is also linked to environmental issues, such as the production of plastic bags for shopping and the difficulties associated with their disposal and the decomposition of their constituent components.

3.8.

In this scenario, this variety of production processes has created a plethora of business representative bodies, which in itself creates barriers to cooperation between companies and worker representatives over such significant issues as environmental sustainability and change management. The segmented nature of packaging subsectors, such as metal packagers, is demonstrated by the large number of trade representative bodies. For example, the producers of aluminium are often the same companies that produce aluminium packaging and have their own trade organisation (European Aluminium Association). However, specialists in metal packaging that produce beverage cans (made of steel and aluminium) have their own trade organisation; and for packaging companies specialising in steel products, there is yet another trade association.

3.9.

Due to the sector’s importance, both in terms of its contribution to GDP and employment, these sector-specific issues require particular attention. However, being such a segmented sector, the packaging industry serves the needs of upstream businesses right across economies, and far beyond its traditional markets.

3.10.

Product packaging serves a number of needs and covers issues such as product protection (prevention of breakage, spoilage and contamination), promotional information (product identification, branding, preparation, usage, nutritional and safety information), information on handling (transportation and point of sale display), reducing packaging waste (processing, storage and transport energy) and, important within the context of efforts to reduce carbon emissions, packaging design is an important aspect of maximising the space available for the transportation of goods. The role of packaging itself in reducing waste has become relevant as online companies, such as Amazon, have become very large users of packaging and the question of ‘the responsible party’ ought to be addressed.

Amazon, for example, utilises certified ‘easy opening packaging’ systems. By eliminating plastic and straps, since 2008, Amazon has radically changed its approach for 2 00  000 products from 2  000 manufactures, thereby reducing cardboard consumption by 5,4 million square metres, the generic materials by 11  203,7 tons and the total volume of boxes by 410 thousand cubic metres. In reality, the consumer bears the ultimate responsibility for waste packaging, but the producer, or intermediate user, ought to have an interest in the amount of packaging which eventually becomes waste.

3.11.

The issues referred to below require thorough examination to provide an overall understanding of the current state of play and to produce potential solutions to ensure that the European packaging sector remains competitive and sustainable from an environmental point of view and provides decent employment for the thousands of workers dependent on it.

3.12.

Any change in the availability of raw materials will influence both the price and availability of finished packaging products, and has the potential to seriously disrupt the sector’s activities. Consequently, an examination of the drivers and trends of raw materials ought to be undertaken to enable the industry to anticipate future change without the associated and potential disruption. The metal packaging sector, for example, is particularly under pressure from both sharp increases in the cost of raw materials and energy prices.

3.13.

In 2012, the Commission launched the European Innovation Partnership on Raw Materials, with the aim of addressing the challenges associated with the supply of wood-based and mineral raw materials.

3.14.

Demand, mainly from Asia, has driven up the price of secondary raw materials for paper packaging, the producers of which are unable to simply pass on these additional costs to their customers. Chinese demand has contributed heavily to the increase in the price of recycled materials for paper packaging (the price of recovered paper has almost doubled since 2006, while in the same period the price of recycled paper has increased by almost 50 %). These increases are likely to continue in the foreseeable future.

4.1.

According to Eurostat metal packaging (comprising steel and aluminium) for the packaging industry employs around 60  000 people in Europe, out of a total of 3 55  000 in the European steel industry, and Metal Packaging for Europe estimates that 80  000 people are employed in the aluminium industry, extending to 2 55  000 employed throughout the entire European aluminium value chain. However the sector has suffered, and continues to suffer, job losses, either as a result of consolidation in the sector or from overseas competition (4).

4.2.

The challenge for the sector’s employers and workforce in Europe is to ensure that the sector maintains its competitive edge, fully utilises technological innovations and produces goods that are environmentally sustainable and of a high quality.

4.3.

Competition from overseas continues to exert downward pressure on the working conditions of the sector’s workforce — those we rely upon to create wealth, utilise innovative technologies and, fundamentally, to maintain the sector’s operation and sustainable future for future generations.

4.4.

The European packaging sector continues to suffer from over-capacity and this compounds the impact of overseas competition and acts as a dampener on wages and working conditions. The downward trend in employment in the sector illustrates the impact of both competition and over-capacity.

4.5.

The packaging sector has the potential to provide wider benefits to Europe’s economies due to its capacity to recycle materials. More and more packaging materials are either being recycled or are themselves products of recycled materials from other manufacturing sectors. The environmental benefits of recycling are obvious enough, and are featured regularly in Commission documents. However, the packaging sector can improve the recycling rates of Member States. At the same time, it has the potential to close the loop of the circular economy by preventing the export of dubious waste materials and denying access to European markets to importers of packaging which does not comply with environmental best practice (5). Metal and aluminium packaging companies, whose products represent 16 % of the total volume of aluminium products in Europe, rely both on the extraction of the raw material (Bauxite) and the recycling of scrap metal.

4.6.

The protection of consumers, by providing critical product information or advice regarding product usage, is also a significant and important aspect of the European packaging industry. Consumers rightly expect packaging to protect the goods they buy and, in the case of food and drink, to preserve and prevent health risks associated with contaminated foodstuffs. Retailers have similar expectations but, in addition, the packaging of the goods they sell ought to maximise the shelf life of a product.

4.7.

The future shape and structure of the industry is, to a lesser or greater extent, dependent on innovation and investment in technology: 3D printing, for example, offers an opportunity to the sector and consumers but the success of its introduction and operation in the sector will rely heavily on cooperation within the sector and the expectations of consumers. The industry must take advantage of the available technologies and adjust, through proper dialogue.

4.8.

Good practice, to transform the sector and to adapt to change, is continuously developing but requires the assistance of the European institutions to maximise its potential. The EU may offer assistance, in terms of financial support or the creation of a forum to further develop discussions among the social partners, and the sector ought to engage with the EU in this process.

4.9.

Sustainable and workable solutions will only be achieved if the two sides of industry work together and social dialogue at national and European level provides such an opportunity. Therefore the creation of a Sectorial Social Dialogue Committee for the Packaging Sector is essential to begin tackling a number of the issues raised in this document.