Estonian and other European Union stores will soon no longer have individually wrapped vegetables and fruits, ERR News reports.
The changes are part of new EU rules aimed at reducing excess and unnecessary packaging, and will come into effect on the 1st of January, 2030. After that date, certain cucumbers and other vegetables and fruits (the list of which is still being finalized) will be sold without plastic packaging.
Dagny Repp, head of the packaging department at the Ministry of Climate, told the program Aktuaalne kaamera that from 2030, producers and traders will no longer be allowed to individually wrap fresh fruits and vegetables weighing less than 1.5 kilograms.
The European Commission will prepare a complete list of fruit and vegetables that will not be subject to the ban by the 1st of January, 2027. Repp noted that it is therefore difficult to assess the impact of the new rules at this time. She added that many Estonian stores sell a large proportion of fruit and vegetables without packaging, so the changes will not have a significant impact on retailers. Meanwhile,
some industry representatives have indicated that the changes could increase costs and bureaucracy, at least in the short term.
Teet Kolyal, a representative of the supermarket chain Rimi, said that in the short term the new rules will require a review of product offerings and packaging solutions, and these costs will be felt by consumers. In the long term, uniform EU rules would allow the market to become more transparent and clear, and lower costs for packaging would allow for lower overall costs.
Several companies have indicated that they want to see the guidelines developed by the EC as soon as possible so that they can prepare for the changes.
Nele Peil, executive director of the Estonian Retailers’ Association, said the changes would certainly lead to additional costs and thus higher prices, and since the changes apply to the entire bloc, the solutions would also be common to the entire EU. At the same time, Estonia’s small population means that fewer people will have to shoulder the costs compared to densely populated Western Europe. Peil added that it would be good to take into account Estonia’s location and population density, and that entrepreneurs should be given as much flexibility as possible.
Peil said that thin plastic bags will still be available after 2030, but there is some difference of opinion about when they are needed. For example, bananas do not generally need to be put in a bag, but when transporting these fruits in larger quantities, plastic packaging may be necessary to preserve their quality. Ultimately, the consumer is the best judge of whether additional packaging is necessary.
After 2030, it is also planned to abandon the use of film packaging for drinks bottles or cans, and the usual small packages of shampoo, shower gel and other hygiene products will no longer be found in EU hotels.
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