Packaging industry statement

Submitted by Serena Rebollo… on 25 March 2020

The packaging ecosystem wants to express its offer to collaborate with the highest priority in the production, distribution, development or manufacture of any material, product or strategic service that helps mitigate the effects on people’s health derived from the current health crisis caused by COVID-19.

In this sense, the companies in the sector have organized and dimensioned to respond to the containment measures dictated by Royal Decree 463/2020, 14th of March, which declares the state of alarm, and thus guarantee the necessary products to ensure supply in essential areas such as food, beverages, hygiene, health, as well as other essential goods.

The production of packaging must guarantee the safety and quality of all products in order to guarantee both food safety and quality and the correct traceability and identification of all goods, which is achieved through the corresponding manufacturing processes carried out up to the date.

For the safe production of packaging, a continuous cross-border movement between countries is essential, as well as the need for customs transit to flow so as not to stop or interrupt production in the supply chain in key areas such as food, pharmaceuticals and hygiene.

Additionally, the three signatory entities of this declaration, maintaining a complete vision of the packaging cycle, want to highlight the invaluable work that local administrations and waste managers are carrying out in ensuring, in these moments of exceptional situation, the service of collection of packaging waste and carrying out their work in an exemplary manner. We are sure that they will continue to apply the instructions of the competent authorities and adopt the most appropriate sanitary measures to guarantee, as they have always done, a quality, efficient and close-to-citizen waste collection and recycling service, as an essential service that is . For this reason, we encourage Spanish society to continue putting into practice its environmental commitment, separating its waste and depositing it in the corresponding container for subsequent recycling.

For this reason, the signatory entities request to the relevant authorities:

  • Consider the packaging sector as a strategic and systemic sector to help respond to this health crisis.
  • Guarantee the supply of all raw materials and products necessary for the manufacture of packaging, such as plastic pellets, masterbatches, inks, adhesives, labels, products and supports for paper and cardboard and all kinds of materials.
  • Guarantee throughout the supply chain, the delivery of finished containers and packaging (boxes, bottles, pallets, shrink, among others) to the packaging companies or users of the containers.
  • Facilitate the movement of the necessary products in customs transit to guarantee supply throughout the chain.

And at the same time, the signatory entities are at the disposal of the administrations to give quick and effective responses to the challenges and needs that are urgently needed to mitigate the effects of the current health crisis.

Cluster organisation
Share this Article