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Environment & Sustainability
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Alerts
Daily regulatory updates of legal changes in the cannabis sector, including monthly compilations
26th April 2024
EU: On Tuesday (23rd April), the European Parliament adopted a proposal for a regulation on ecodesign for sustainable products. With the proposal, we expect the emergence of a digital product passport for devices – a tool that can significantly enhance a product’s end-to-end traceability, complementing the information provided in labels – and other ecodesign requirements, such as requirements for the measure of energy consumption or performance of devices. Once the European Council formally approves it, the proposal can enter into force.25th April 2024
- EU: Yesterday (24th April), the European Parliament adopted the proposal to revise the Packaging and Packaging Waste Directive. It aims to prevent the generation of packaging waste, reduce it in quantity, ensure that all packaging is recyclable, and increase the use of recycled plastics in packaging. Once the Council formally approves it, the proposal can enter into force.
25th April 2024
- EU: Yesterday (24th April), the European Parliament adopted a proposal for a directive on corporate sustainability due diligence. The proposal aims to have certain big companies both within and outside of the EU conduct due diligence on the potential environmental impact of operations and supply chains as well as address environmental and social risks, enabling employees and industry members to raise any concerns. The proposal is expected to be approved by the Council and then to be published in the EU Official Journal.
24th April 2024
- EU: Yesterday (23rd April), the European Parliament adopted the proposal for a directive on common rules promoting the repair of goods. The proposal seeks to introduce consumer incentives to repair products rather than replace them, promoting a circular economy. We believe this would force manufacturers or sellers to have repair facilities in order to repair devices, beyond the legal guarantee period, so as to allow their use for a longer period of time. Moreover, it should enable the replacement of defective vaping devices (including cannabis and hemp-derived vapes) with refurbished or second-hand ones, rather than a new one. The proposal should be approved next by the Council to be published in the EU Official Journal.
24th November 2023
- EU: On Wednesday (22nd November), the European Parliament adopted its position on the proposal to revise the Packaging and Packaging Waste Directive. The directive aims to prevent the generation of packaging waste, reduce it in quantity, ensure that all packaging is recyclable, and increase the use of recycled plastics in packaging. Once the Council has adopted its position, the Parliament is ready to start talks with national governments on the law’s final form.
16th November 2023
- EU: On occasion of today’s webinar held by the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA) examining the EU cannabis market, the authority has launched an interactive module describing the illicit European cannabis market, from production and trafficking, to distribution and use. Today’s webinar consisted of a presentation of this module, which goes through figures on the estimated annual value of this market in the EU, cannabis cultivation, quantities seized in the last ten years, implications for organised crime, available cannabis retail channels, pricing, and the environmental consequences of cannabis production.
8th November 2023
- EU: The European Commission (EC) has published an initiative to adopt a delegated decision on the targeted amendment of the European List of Waste relating to waste batteries and waste from their treatment. The list provides common terminology for classifying waste across the EU, including hazardous waste. The Commission seeks to revise this list to take into account new battery chemistries and rapidly evolving manufacturing and recycling processes. The Commission adoption is planned for the third quarter of 2024.
7th November 2023
- EU: The European Week for Waste Reduction (EWWR) takes place this year during the week of 18th to 26th November. The EWWR is the biggest campaign to raise awareness about waste prevention in Europe. Individuals, non-governmental organisations (NGOs), organisations, public authorities, businesses and other bodies can take part in different activities during the week. Those who want to take action may register until 12th November. In 2023, the main topic is packaging, encouraging everyone to be aware of packaging waste and to contribute to its reduction.
25th October 2023
- EU: Yesterday (24th October), the European Parliament's Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety voted to adopt the proposal for a regulation on packaging and packaging waste, which aims to make packaging easier to reuse and recycle, to reduce unnecessary packaging and waste, and to promote the use of recycled content. Parliament’s vote on the proposal is expected in November. The proposal is expected to affect packaging requirements for cannabis and hemp-derived products.
28th July 2023
- EU: The new regulation that aims to make batteries more sustainable has been published today in the EU’s Official Journal. As stated in our previous analysis and our database, the regulation will, among many other restrictions, require batteries to be removable and potentially phase out single-use batteries. It will enter into force 20 days after publication, and will begin to apply from 18th February 2024, with a number of different provisions applying at later dates.
20th July 2023
EU: The feedback period for a proposal revealed by the European Commission in March for a directive on substantiation and communication of explicit environmental claims (Green Claims Directive) ends tomorrow, 21st July. The proposal would require companies to substantiate claims they make about the environmental footprint of their products, using standard methods for quantifying them. The aim is to make claims reliable, comparable and verifiable across the EU to reduce “greenwashing”, or giving a false impression of environmental impact. The current Tobacco Products Directive (TPD 2) bars labelling for vaping products from suggesting improved biodegradability or other environmental advantages, but lacks explicit regulation on the use of environmental claims in commercial communications, which is expected to be introduced by this proposal.
Regulatory reports
Comprehensive legal reports outlining how the sector is regulated, interpretation of the laws and relevant bodies
Regulatory databases
Regularly updated global regulations currently in place, compiled into easy-to-read maps and tables
