49. Cabecera noticia RD envases

Extended Producer Responsibility extends to commercial and industrial packaging

The new Royal Decree 1055/2022 on packaging and packaging waste, approved on 27 December, is an in-depth review of current packaging regulations, which have been in force for more than 25 years. Among other measures, it extends the financial and organisational obligations to producers (packers, importers or intra-Community purchasers) who place packaged products on the domestic market for the first time. Those using commercial and industrial packaging will now have to finance the management of packaging waste generated after the use of such packaging, irrespective of its type, size and material.

30-12-2022

24. Parrafo RD Envases (I)

The new Royal Decree implements the Law on Waste and Contaminated Land for a Circular Economy, approved last April, and essentially transposes the packaging directive (Directive 2018/852), thus repealing the previous legislation regulating this matter.

The text regulates Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) for packaging, and increases, among other aspects, the obligations on the management of commercial and industrial packaging waste, which until now has been subject to a less demanding, exceptional system. This will involve significant economic and organisational efforts. These new obligations are to be fulfilled through individual or collective Extended Producer Responsibility systems (EPRs), in much the same way as those foreseen for household packaging.

The new obligation covers all packaging intended for professional customers in commerce, services, industry or agriculture, among other sectors, irrespective of whether it involves sales packaging (primary), collective or grouped packaging (secondary) or transport packaging (tertiary). This is regardless of format, packaging size, material (plastic, metal, cardboard or wood) and shelf life (reusable or non-reusable).

32. Parrafo cita RD envases

The text regulates Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) for packaging, and increases the obligations on the management of commercial and industrial packaging waste, to be fulfilled through Extended Producer Responsibility systems.

With regard to these new obligations for packaging producers, it establishes the requirement for registration in the Producer Register (certifying their adherence to an individual or collective ERP system) and the obligation to send annual information to this Register on the packaged products placed on the market. In principle, the actions of registering in the Register and submitting annual information on products placed on the market can be carried out through the ERP system which the producer is signed up to. These producers will be assigned a registration number which will appear on the invoices of their packaged products, and which will also include the contribution made to these ERP systems in a clear and differentiated manner.

Those responsible for placing packaged products on the market in commercial and industrial packaging shall set up the ERP systems by 31 December 2024, but the deadline for notifying the competent authority of the individual system or applying for authorisation as a collective ERP system shall be 31 December 2023, by which date, in the case of collective systems, all organisational and financial aspects (including the setting up of the relevant management entities) must be completed, as these aspects must be included in the application for authorisation.

24. Parrafo RD Envases (II)

GENCI, response already operational for commercial and industrial packaging

Of all the new features included in the regulations, perhaps the most important is the expansion of the Extended Producer Responsibility system, a model in which SIGAUS already has 16 years’ experience in the industrial oils sector. In anticipation of the mandatory requirements of this new legislation across Spain, in 2021 SIGAUS created GENCI as an instrument to meet EPR obligations on commercial and industrial packaging in the Balearic Islands, an autonomous community that has taken a lead in requiring Extended Producer Responsibility to be applied to this type of packaging. In this way, GENCI offers companies that commercialise this type of products its experience through an efficient, proven waste management model under the ERP system.

GENCI is already fully established in the Balearic Islands, where it provides waste management services for these commercial and industrial packaging companies, importers and intra-Community purchasers in all sectors, both for lubricants and other packaged products for the automotive industry (for sale to dealers or workshops) as well as paints or chemical products for services, hotel/catering and the industry sector. All these companies already comply with the requirements of the Balearic Community thanks to their participation in GENCI.

Since the start of its activity in the Balearic Islands, GENCI has served a total of 1,196 used packaging producer points across 59 municipalities through 6,375 collection operations. These figures endorse the efficiency of a system that is now ready to provide services across Spain, following the approval of Royal Decree 1055/2022.

15. Boton RD Envases (I)

15. Boton RD Envases (II)