The European Commission’s proposals from November last year to cut packaging waste have been voted through by the European Parliament’s environment committee. Not that anything more important is going on at the moment…

Under the draft rules packaging will be steadily standardised to allow for easier reuse. It can be heavier or more intricate than the minimum only if it fulfils certain “performance criteria”, though the commission have deleted “consumer acceptance” and “marketing and product presentation” from the list. Brand identification won’t be a good enough reason to keep a packaging design. Anything that uses glass is at high risk – bottle designs for coke, perfume, and spirits could go out of the window. Kiss that Grey Goose goodbye…

The glass bottle manufacturer trade association FEVE says “creative designs and iconic shapes will gradually disappear, and commercial value will be squandered because brands can no longer stand out from each other on the shelves“. Meanwhile, several packaging formats will also be banned, like single-use packaging in restaurants and hotels. Goodbye ketchup sachets and mini-shampoo bottles…