Below are extracted from European Parliament legislative resolution of 27 March 2019 on the proposal for a directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on the reduction of the impact of certain plastic products on the environment (COM(2018)0340 – C8-0218/2018 – 2018/0172(COD))
(11) Single-use plastic products can be manufactured from a wide range of plastics. Plastics are usually defined as polymeric materials to which additives may have been added. However, that definition would cover certain natural polymers. Unmodified natural polymers, within the meaning of the definition of “not chemically modified substances” in point 40 of Article 3 of Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council1, should not be covered by this Directive as they occur naturally in the environment. Therefore, for the purposes of this Directive, the definition of polymer in point 5 of Article 3 of Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006 should be adapted and a separate definition should be introduced. Plastics manufactured with modified natural polymers, or plastics manufactured from bio-based, fossil or synthetic starting substances are not naturally occurring and should therefore be addressed by this Directive. The adapted definition of plastics should therefore cover polymer-based rubber items and bio-based and biodegradable plastics regardless of whether they are derived from biomass or are intended to biodegrade over time. Paints, inks and adhesives should not be addressed by this Directive and therefore these polymeric materials should not be covered by the definition.
(12) In order to clearly define the scope of this Directive, the term “single-use plastic product” should be defined. The definition should exclude plastic products that are conceived, designed and placed on the market to accomplish within their life span multiple trips or rotations by being refilled or reused for the same purpose for which they are conceived. Single-use plastic products are typically intended to be used just once or for a short period of time before being disposed of. Wet wipes for personal care and domestic use should also be within the scope of this Directive, whereas industrial wet wipes should be excluded. To further clarify whether a product is to be considered a single-use plastic product for the purposes of this Directive, the Commission should develop guidelines on single-use plastic products. In view of the criteria set out in this Directive, examples of food containers to be considered as single-use plastic products for the purposes of this Directive are fast-food containers or meal, sandwich, wrap and salad boxes with cold or hot food, or food containers of fresh or processed food that does not need further preparation, such as fruits, vegetables or desserts. Examples of food containers that are not to be considered as single-use plastic products for the purposes of this Directive are food containers with dried food or food that is sold cold requiring further preparation, containers containing food in more than single-serve portions or single-serve portion-sized food containers sold in more than one unit. Examples of beverage containers to be considered as single-use plastic products are beverage bottles or composite beverage packaging used for beer, wine, water, liquid refreshments, juices and nectars, instant beverages or milk, but not cups for beverages as these are a separate category of single-use plastic products for the purposes of this Directive. As they are not among the single-use plastic products that are found the most on beaches in the Union, glass and metal beverage containers should not be covered by this Directive. However, the Commission should, in the context of the review of this Directive, evaluate inter alia caps and lids made of plastic used for glass and metal beverage containers.
（11）一次性塑料產品可以用各種塑料製造。塑料通常被定義為添加了添加劑的聚合物材料，但是，此定義会涵蓋某些天然聚合物。未經改性的天然聚合物，也就是“不是通过化学方法改性的物质”（见歐洲議會和理事會第1907/2006號條例（EC）第3條第40點中的定义），不應涵蓋在本指令中，因為它們在環境中自然存在。因此，针对本指令的目的，應当修改（EC）1907/2006號法規第3條第5點中关于聚合物的定義，然后引入一个單獨的定義。由改性天然聚合物製造的塑料，或由生物基、化石基或合成起始物質製成的塑料，这两类塑料不是天然存在的，所以应该通过本指令解决。所以，经过修改后的塑料的定義應包括基於聚合物的橡膠製品、生物基和可生物降解的塑料，不管是否來自生物質或者可以隨時間生物降解。本指令不應涉及油漆、油墨和粘合劑，因此定義不應涵蓋這些聚合物材料。
（12）为清楚界定本指令的范围，还应该明确“一次性塑胶产品”的定义。
該定義不包括那些经过構思、設計并投放到市場后，在使用期限内经过多个途径或循环完成重复填充或使用以实现当初设计目的的塑料产品。典型的一次性塑料產品是指在废弃處理之前只使用一次或使用时间很短的产品。用于個人護理和家庭使用的濕纸巾也應在本指令的範圍內，但是不包括工業湿纸巾。
為了進一步澄清一个產品是否是本指令中的一次性塑料產品，委員會應制定一次性塑料產品指南。
考虑到本指令中規定的標準以及本指令的目的，被視為是一次性塑料製品的食品容器是指：
1、快餐盒或者用于食品、三明治、沙拉的包装或容器；
2、用于新鲜食品或加工食品（例如水果、蔬菜、甜点）且不需要进一步加工的食品容器。
而不被視為一次性塑料製品的食品容器包括：
1、用于干燥食品或者需要进一步加工的冷食品的容器；
2、装有超過單（人）份量食品的食品容器；
3、装单（人）份量食品的食品容器但是以超过一个单位的形式销售的食品容器。
被認為是一次性塑料產品的飲料容器是指用於啤酒、葡萄酒、水、饮料、果汁和果露、速溶飲料或牛奶的飲料瓶或複合飲料包裝，但不包括用杯子装的饮料，因為這些是一次性塑料製品中一个单独的類別。
至于玻璃和金屬飲料容器，由於它們不屬於聯盟海灘上最常見的一次性塑料產品，因此不在本指令涵蓋范围内。但是，在審查本指令時，委員會應評估用於玻璃和金屬飲料容器的塑料製成的帽子和蓋子。
