Circular Economy in Chemical Packaging
The circular economy in chemical packaging aims to use less packaging, reuse it when safe and recycle it at the end, rather than use it once and discard it.
It is based on the waste hierarchy of Directive 2008/98/EC, transposed in Spain by Law 7/2022 on waste and contaminated soils for a circular economy: first prevention, then preparing for reuse, recycling, other recovery and, as a last resort, disposal. For packaging, Spanish Royal Decree 1055/2022 extends extended producer responsibility to commercial and industrial packaging as well, and Regulation (EU) 2025/40 on packaging and packaging waste sets common EU requirements on minimisation, recyclability, recycled content and reuse.
For cleaning chemicals, the most common measures are:
- Concentrated products diluted at the point of use: less packaging and less transport per litre of solution prepared.
- Large formats or bag-in-box connected to dosing units, which replace many small containers.
- Reuse of containers such as IBCs, always after cleaning and inspection and, in general, for the same product, to avoid contamination or reactions between incompatible residues.
- Single-material packaging, for example high-density polyethylene, which is easier to recycle.
There is a limit: a container that has held a hazardous substance and has not been cleaned is managed as hazardous waste (EWC code 15 01 10*), through an authorised waste manager. The label and the safety data sheet state how to dispose of each product's packaging.
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