The European Union is currently considering reviewing its packaging and waste legislation, with the main focus being plastic. Suppose the bill submitted by the Directorate General for the Environment on November 30, 2022 is passed by other European institutions. In that case, it will ban most small cosmetic and hygiene packaging in the hotel industry by January 1, 2027. This means travelers may no longer find shampoos, shower gels, toothpaste, or other small cosmetics in their hotel rooms.
Packaging for shampoos, toothpaste, shower gels, creams, soaps, and all similar products with a capacity of less than 100 ml or 100 g will be banned in hotel rooms. This prohibition will only apply to "bottles of shampoo, bottles of hand and body lotion, sachets around a miniature bar of soap," tubes of toothpaste, and other plastic packaging, as specified in the text. In other words, reusable containers, cardboard, and paper will remain allowed.
188.7 kg of packaging per EU inhabitant
For the past few years, businesses have been working on replacing plastic products with recyclable materials.
It’s essential to address the issue of packaging waste in Europe. According to Eurostat, 84.3 million tonnes of packaging waste were produced by Europeans in 2021, which is an increase of 4.8 million tonnes from 2020. This means each European produced 188.7 kg of packaging waste in just one year. Regulations on packaging and packaging waste have been in place in Europe since 1994 and were updated in 2018. However, the new text submitted by the Directorate General for the Environment will not be voted on by the European Parliament until November 23, 2023. Even if it passes this stage, it must then go through the EU Council before it becomes a law.
