News
MPE welcomes the European Commission’s ambition to strengthen Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) within the Circular Economy Act (CEA). Current EPR systems across the EU remain highly fragmented, resulting in unequal treatment of materials, inefficiencies, and unfair competition.
Rigid metal packaging (steel and aluminium) demonstrates consistently high recycling rates across Member States: 82% for steel packaging and 76,3% for aluminium beverage cans. However, the lack of transparency in cost allocation and governance often leads to cross-subsidisation of other, less-recyclable material streams, undermining both environmental and economic objectives.
The CEA should harmonise minimum EPR requirements, ensure material neutrality, and reward recyclability and circular performance of materials.
Key requests
The Circular Economy Act must ensure:
• Harmonised minimum requirements
• Strict material neutrality
• Transparent, cost-based fee setting reflecting material performance and real cost
• Stop cross-subsidisation between materials
• Eco-modulation based on recyclability and circular performance