Mini disposable sachets for sugar, sauces, and personal-care products face a ban
Hotels in the European Union will be forbidden from providing small individual packages of sugar, sauce, shampoo, gels, and other hygiene products from 2030 onward. The measure is part of a larger EU strategy aimed at cutting packaging waste and shifting the hospitality sector toward more sustainable practices.
Another element of the new rules concerns single-serve coffee capsules, which will now be treated as packaging. Producers of these capsules must arrange and cover the costs of their sorting and recycling, with the ultimate goal of reducing the amount of waste linked to disposable packaging.
EU sets packaging-waste reduction targets
The EU has also adopted quantitative goals for cutting packaging waste:
- a 5% decrease by 2030 compared with 2018 levels;
- a 10% decrease by 2035;
- a 15% decrease by 2040.
These figures demonstrate the EU's commitment to environmental sustainability and resource conservation.
The new measure is a central piece of regional efforts to address growing waste and pollution. It may push hotels toward refillable or reusable containers and other eco-friendly options, while packaging manufacturers and hospitality operators will need to adapt how they do business in order to comply with the new requirements and take greater environmental responsibility.