Packaging placed-on-the-market estimation model

The EU Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation contains measures designed to prevent the generation of packaging waste and to promote the re‑use, recycling and recovery of packaging. To this end, the Regulation establishes mandatory recycling‑rate targets for each Member State and obliges them to submit annual reports on the quantities of packaging waste generated and the quantities that have been recycled, recovered or otherwise processed. To help Member States verify their measurement and calculation methods of packaging placed on the market (POM) referring to a set of packaging categories, the JRC developed a model that estimates the amounts of packaging placed on the market for food and beverage products, cat and dog food, home care products, and beauty and personal care products. The model provides yearly estimates of packaging quantities placed on the market distinguishing by packaging material (e.g. PET plastic, HDPE plastic, glass, paper and cardboard), in 19 EU countries (contributing to 97% of the EU population), for the time range 2008-2025.

The model is built on an extensive database providing country-level information on consumer goods sold by packaging type in the following sectors: food and beverages, home care, beauty and personal care, cat and dog food. Sales volumes are provided for each Product Variant (PV), identified based on three key components: product type, packaging type and packaging size (e.g. milk, HDPE bottle, 1000 ml). Each PV is assigned a unitary mass corresponding to the mass of the packaging container once empty. Unitary masses were collected by performing an online search through websites of packaging suppliers, complemented by a data-gap-filling procedure. The number of PVs sold are multiplied by their unitary mass to estimate the total mass of packaging materials placed on the market per country and year.

The packaging estimation model is built on the combination of:

• Sales volumes of consumer goods by packaging type
• Data on packaging unitary mass collected from packaging supplier websites