It's no longer necessary for tyrosemiophiles, cheese producers and manufacturers of lightweight wooden packaging to defend the traditional Camembert box. An amendment approved by MEPs has set the record straight.
While the European Commission wants to " prevent packaging waste, encourage reuse and refill, and make all packaging recyclable by 2030", a wind of panic blew through the media and social networks this month. News of a proposed recycling law that could lead to the replacement of wooden packaging with recycled plastic began to circulate, and boiled down to the fact that a European regulation was considering banning wooden boxes from Camemberts.
Camemberts keep their tins, oysters their crates and strawberries their trays
Meeting in plenary session in Strasbourg on November 22, MEPs put an end, for the time being, to the controversy by approving an amendment tabled by the Renew group allowing the use of wooden packaging for certain products "until Brussels has examined their specific situation" .
Appellation contrôlée cheeses such as Camembert de Normandie, Livarot, Mont d'Or, Epoisses, Pont-l'évêque, Neufchâtel and others are still packaged in spruce or poplar, while oysters remain in their crates and strawberries in their trays.
The camembert box, made of wood but not recycled either
This famous box is one of the lighter types of wooden packaging. Made of spruce or poplar, round and square boxes are usually stapled together, and end up in household waste garbage cans, landfill sites or incinerators.
At present, there is no dedicated recycling channel for this type of packaging, since it accounts for such a small proportion of all discarded packaging, and creating a specific channel would be very costly.
A recycling problem awaiting a solution and a final decision from Brussels.
