In addition to single-use plastic containers, supermarkets in Estonia will be required to offer hot prepared foods or salads in reusable packaging as well, and shoppers will also be given the right to use their own containers to buy them, among other food packaging changes ahead.

A comprehensive new packaging regulation came into effect in the EU last week, aiming to reduce packaging waste and boost recycling. Among other things, new requirements are being introduced that will apply to both supermarkets and food service establishments.

Currently, when purchasing food directly from a supermarket or grocery store deli, salad bar or hot food counter, employees typically package the requested items, such as pilaf or sliced sausage, into a suitably sized single-use plastic container.

Just three years from now, supermarket employees will be required to offer customers a reusable alternative alongside single-use containers. The reusable option must also be priced the same as the single-use packaging.

"Currently, when a product is purchased in a single-use container, the cost of this packaging is already included in the price," Ministry of Climate Circular Economy Department adviser Dagny Kungus told ERR. "Going forward, when buying unpackaged food to go, the seller must also list the price of the single-use packaging separately; it will no longer be permitted to provide this type of plastic packaging for free."

She added that this means consumers will realize that this single-use packaging isn't free; they're paying for it.

Under the new EU packaging regulation that took effect last week, what kind of reusable alternative to offer will be left up to stores to decide.

"We already have various providers on the market," Kungus noted. "The most widespread, for example, is Ringo, which is a similar reuse solution for food containers. A consumer comes and buys their food, and even takeaway [and delivery] ordered through sales platforms, for example, can be packaged in Ringo containers. Customers then return the containers to drop-off points, and then get their deposit back."

Customers will also be given the right to buy similar unpackaged prepared foods — whether pilaf, cheese or sausages — using their own containers from home. Some supermarkets already allow shoppers to do this, but it is not currently mandatory.

These containers from home cannot just be any random dish, however; they have to be sufficiently clean to avoid cross-contamination.

"If the seller notices that the container still has some leftover food in it, they can refuse to use it," the adviser explained.

Thin plastic produce bags, meanwhile, must be removed from produce sections by 2030, and will no longer be freely distributed to customers.

In the future, stores will only be allowed to offer plastic bags for hygienic reasons, or when necessary to prevent food waste.

However, stores will not be prohibited from offering bags made from other materials instead, such as paper bags.

According to Kungus, swapping out plastic bags for paper bags isn't exactly what officials and politicians had in mind when drawing up this regulation. She explained that the main goal of this measure is to reduce packaging waste. If member states fail to achieve this goal with other measures, states may also implement stricter rules.

"If we see that the thin plastic [produce] bags problem is simply replaced by the emergence of other materials, member states will be able to decide that such alternative-material bags won't be allowed for customers in stores either," she added.

Soft drinks no longer allowed in single-use plastics

The packaging regulation also introduces new requirements for the food service sector. For example, restaurants will no longer be allowed to serve food or beverages using single-use plastic cups, plates or containers if the customer intends to eat in and the packaging is filled on-site at the cafe or restaurant.

This change will apply to cafes, regular restaurants as well as fast food establishments.

This means that while soft drinks at fast food restaurants are currently offered in single-use cups, in the future, they will have to be served in either a reusable cup or, for example, a paper cup — unless the customer has decided to bring their own clean mug along from home.

"You sit down at a restaurant, eat your meal and then someone takes your dishes to the dishwasher," Kungus said, explaining the idea behind the change.

Also to disappear is single-use plastic packaging for individual portions, including condiments and seasoning, sauces, coffee creamer and sugar packets — and any packaging containing even a small amount of plastic is considered plastic packaging.

Hotels will likewise no longer offer single-use packaging for cosmetics, hygiene and toiletry items intended for one-time use by guests. This includes shampoo bottles, hand and body lotion bottles as well as individually wrapped bar soap.

"While we've been talking about how packaging needs to be sorted and recycled, until now, consumers have had very little influence in that initial stage, where products are brought onto the market," the ministry adviser acknowledged. "The impact of this regulation now is that packaging being brought onto the market must be recyclable. So if consumers correctly sort their waste, and throw it away in the appropriate bin, then it will be recycled."

At the Climate Ministry, Ivo Jaanisoo, deputy secretary general on the living environment and circular economy, noted that until now, reuse solutions like Ringo have remained more of a niche market in Estonia, lacking any significant economic feasibility. Thus, one goal of this reform is to make such solutions economically viable.

More packaging on store shelves to be made from recycled waste

The EU's new packaging and packaging waste regulation applies equally to all 27 member states.

Jaanisoo pointed out that a key requirement included in the regulation is that an increasing share of packaging sold in stores must be made from secondary raw materials — meaning recycled waste.

Since the beginning of this year, a similar requirement has already applied to PET plastic, meaning that all new beverage bottles entering the market must be made of at least 25 percent recycled material.

By 2030, single-use plastic beverage bottles must contain at least 30 recycled materials, and by 2040, that percentage must reach 65 percent. Similar requirements will apply to other plastic packaging as well.

"For me, this is already a significant point where Estonia's economy must not miss out on this opportunity," the deputy secretary general stressed. "We need business models that can extract raw materials from waste. I call this an 'above-ground natural resource' — something we already have in our trash bins — but what is key is that it is collected sorted and clean, and directed back to our industrial businesses to produce new packaging material."

Member states will be required to reduce packaging waste generation by at least 5 percent from 2018 levels by 2030, 10 percent by 2035 and 15 percent by 2040.

Standardized disposal labels for packaging

Under the new EU regulation, both packaging and waste bins themselves will have standardized labels to make sorting waste easier for consumers. Similar standardized labels and QR codes will also be introduced for reusable packaging.

Misleading or confusing labels on packaging — such as about sustainability or how the packaging should be disposed of — will be banned in the coming years as well.

Some of these new standards will also apply to the packaging of products on the market. For example, packaging must not mislead consumers by giving the impression that there is more product inside than there actually is. In the future, packaging must only be as large as necessary.

However, this doesn't mean that potato chip bags — where chips typically take up little space — will automatically become much smaller.

"The packaging still has to be functional," Kungus explained. "Manufacturers often justify the air inside chip bags by saying it protects the product — so consumers don't end up with crushed chips."

According to Jaanisoo, the new EU packaging regulation is directly applicable to Estonia and will take effect in 18 months. During this time, Estonia must ensure that its own current laws do not contradict the new regulation.

The Ministry of Climate is now planning to conduct a legal analysis of the Packaging Act, and identify any conflicts or redundancies with the new EU regulation. This means that within the next year and a half, the Riigikogu will need to pass an updated Packaging Act.

The European Council, the European Parliament and the European Commission reached an agreement on the packaging regulation in 2024, which was approved by the Council that December.

Estonia voted in favor of the new regulation in the Council, as the Riigikogu had confirmed Estonia's position on the matter in 2023.

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