... introduced measures on the management of packaging waste in the early 1980s. Directive 85/339/EEC covered the packaging of liquid beverage containers intended for human use only but it was too vague to be effective. As a consequence, only some EU Member States introduced measures on packaging and packaging waste management with a view to reducing their environmental impacts. Problems arose when cheap secondary materials from countries with recycling schemes that provided funding for collection and recycling appeared on the markets of other Member States where no such schemes were in place. Collection and recycling activities that relied on cost recovery through the sale of secondary raw material were threatened by collapse. For this reason, Member States approached the Commission to introduce comprehensive legislation on packaging. In 1992, the Commission came forward with a Proposal for a Council Directive on Packaging and Packaging Waste. Following discussions in the European Parliament and the ...

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