Legal analysis of the EU regulatory framework on circular economy and sustainability principles in plastic food packaging

The pervasive use of plastic food packaging (PFP) generates significant environmental, social, and economic challenges, including pollution, resource depletion, and health risks. Despite efforts by the European Union (EU) to address these challenges through regulatory instruments grounded in circular economy (CE) principles, persistent gaps remain in effectively mitigating the negative externalities associated specifically with PFP. This article undertakes a comprehensive legal analysis of EU regulatory frameworks, focusing on their ability to internalize negative externalities across the lifecycle of PFP and align with CE and sustainability principles. The analysis reveals that current regulations, while ambitious in addressing waste management and promoting recycling, emphasize downstream solutions rather than holistic upstream interventions, such as reducing plastic production, promoting safer alternatives, and addressing complex multilayer composites. These limitations highlight a disconnect between the EU’s CE aspirations and the realities of persistent environmental and social harms caused by PFP. The study's novelty lies in its integration of sustainable circular economy (SCE) principles as an evaluative framework. These principles, encompassing environmental, social, and economic dimensions, serve to assess the coherence and effectiveness of EU policies and provide actionable recommendations for legal reform. By critically examining regulatory gaps, misalignments, and trade-offs, the article contributes to the ongoing discourse on advancing a genuinely sustainable CE for PFP in the EU.