Governance & Policy
Single-Use Plastics Directive
Definition
The Single-Use Plastics Directive, Directive (EU) 2019/904, targets the ten single-use plastic items most commonly found on European beaches. It bans items such as plastic cutlery, plates and expanded-polystyrene food containers, requires tethered caps and recycled content in beverage bottles, sets separate-collection targets, and extends producer responsibility to items such as cigarette filters and fishing gear.
References
Legal text, bans and targets
Policy context
Overview
What it means
The most littered plastic items are either removed from the EU market or made subject to design, labelling and end-of-life obligations.
How it is used
Product teams check bans and marking rules; producers register with extended producer responsibility schemes; campaigners cite it in plastics-treaty debates.
Why it matters
It was the EU's first plastics-specific law and a proving ground for measures — bans, recycled content, EPR — now being globalised in treaty negotiations.