Businesses in Russia see no problem with banning some types of PET bottles, but fear more bans

MOSCOW. March 26 (Interfax) - Russian businesses are not concerned about the Industry and Trade Ministry's proposal to ban certain types of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) plastic bottles, but is worried that this measure might be expanded to encompass other types of PET packaging, food industry association Rusprodsoyuz told Interfax.

"The proposed ban of plastic bottles is not causing serious concerns among businesses, since it is unlikely to affect the business processes of food production facilities because the packaging materials that are proposed to be banned are used very rarely," Rusprodsoyuz executive director Dmitry Vostrikov said, commenting on the ministry's draft government resolution to ban certain types of PET packaging that cannot be recycled or is difficult to recycle as of September 1, 2024.

The draft resolution, posted on the regulation.gov.ru website, would ban the production and use of semitransparent PET bottles of all colors in Russia as of September, with the exception of blue, green and brown ones; nontransparent PET bottles with the exception of white ones; PET packaging made with wrap-around PVC labels; and multilayer PET bottles.

However, businesses are not happy about the actual method of imposing bans, Vostrikov said.

"After all, the proposals to impose restrictions on other types of PET that have been made in recent years could have negative consequences for the sector. The path of banning types of packaging is a dead end. It is necessary to improve the technology for recycling packaging materials," Vostrikov said.

Rusprodsoyuz, Russia's largest association of producers and suppliers of all types of food products, includes more than 450 farmers, processors, distributors, logistics companies, operators of wholesale distribution centers and technology suppliers.