Techno Bits

The Producer Responsibility Obligations (Packaging Waste) Regulations 1997, as amended, implement Directive 94/62/EC on packaging and packaging waste and require the UK to set national recovery and recycling targets for businesses.

The packaging waste recovery and recycling targets for 2002 have recently been announced by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA). The new targets will be 59% for recovery and 19% for recycling; raised from 56% and 18% respectively. The targets were expected to be 61% and 20% but DEFRA has lowered these.

An overall recovery target is included as well as an overall recycling target within which differentiated material-specific targets are proposed. This overall target is beneficial as it gives Member States greater flexibility in determining how to discharge their obligations. The Directive sets the following targets to be achieved by 30 June 2006:

• recovery target of between 60% as a minimum and 75% as a maximum (previously 50%-65%).
• the overall recycling target will be between 55% as a minimum and 70% as a maximum (previously 25%-45%).
• differentiated material specific targets i.e. glass 60%, paper/board 55%, metals 50% and plastics 20%.

For the purposes of the packaging directive, recovery of packaging waste includes incineration with energy recovery (energy from waste: EfW) and recycling, including composting. Recycling of packaging waste does not take place until the recycled material has been put back into productive use.

In 2000, the UK achieved 42% recovery and 36% recycling. The vast majority of recovery in the UK is through recycling. However, about 10 percent of packaging waste recovery, or around 500,000 tonnes, is achieved through incineration with energy recovery.

The limits for the application of the Packaging Waste Regulations to your company remain unchanged at trigger levels of 50 tonnes per annum, or a turnover of £2 million.

Posted - May 22, 2002