{"id":39631,"date":"2023-09-25T06:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-09-25T04:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.axfoundation.se\/?p=39631"},"modified":"2024-02-08T09:16:41","modified_gmt":"2024-02-08T08:16:41","slug":"sustainability-insights-plastics","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.axfoundation.se\/en\/news\/sustainability-insights-plastics","title":{"rendered":"How to Reduce Single-Use Packaging – Grasping Upcoming EU Legislation"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Joakim Stattin<\/a> is a biologist with roots in the tech industry. He holds a Master of Science in Business and Economics and is a project manager in the program area Sustainable Production & Consumption<\/a> at Axfoundation.<\/em><\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/section>\n\n\n

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In just over three months, you can easily contribute to reducing littering and promoting the circular economy. All you need to do is say, “I want my food in a reusable container” the next time you visit a fast-food establishment. It shouldn’t be more complicated than that because, by law, all such establishments must offer alternatives to single-use packaging for food and beverages starting from January 1, 2024. Well, not all of them, of course; there are exceptions that prove the rule, but we’ll come back to those a little later and start from the beginning.<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

EU\u2019s Single-Use Plastics Directive Becomes Swedish Regulation<\/h4>\n

The background to these new rules is the EU Single-Use Plastics Directive<\/a>, which was adopted on June 5, 2019. The directive aims to reduce the environmental impact of certain plastics. In Sweden, it is implemented through Regulation (2021:996) on Single-Use Products<\/a> (in Swedish)<\/em>, which goes further and includes for example also requirements for those providing drinks or fast food in disposable cups or containers, even if the packaging is not solely made of plastic.<\/p>\n

In Sweden, the goal is to reduce the consumption of single-use cups and containers by 50 percent by 2026.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/section>\n\n\n

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Fast food is defined in the regulation as food that:<\/h2>\n
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