Waste Management (Packaging and Packaging Waste) (Amendment) Regulations, 2020


CONSULTATION BRIEF

Start date: 5 October 2020

Closing date: 2 November 2020 (Closing date extended to 16th November 2020)

Title of the public consultation: Waste Management (Packaging and Packaging Waste) (Amendment) Regulations, 2020

Ministry: Ministry for the Environment, Climate Change and Planning

Entity: Environment & Resources Authority (ERA)


1. Background

The draft Waste Management (Packaging and Packaging Waste) (Amendment) Regulations, 2020 transpose the provisions of Directive (EU) 2018/852 amending Directive 94/62/EC on packaging and packaging waste. This directive forms part of the “Waste Legislative Package”, which is composed of four (4) directives, adopted in 2018 as part of the Circular Economy Action Plan. The overarching aim of this Waste Legislative Package is to improve waste management within the EU, in order to move further towards a true circular economy.

At the national level, the EU Directive on Packaging Waste was transposed through the Waste Management (Packaging and Packaging Waste) Regulations, S.L. 549.43, wherein the Environment and Resources Authority is designated as the national competent authority.

The proposed draft Legal Notice not only transposes the relevant provisions from Directive 2018/852, it also serves to introduce a number of amendments which would further implement Directive 94/62/EC.

 

2. Proposed amendments

The most substantive amendments brought about by the draft Waste Management (Packaging and Packaging Waste) (Amendment) Regulations, 2020, relate to the new EU recycling targets emanating from the amended Packaging Directive, as presented in the table below, and which are also coupled with stricter calculation rules:

These targets may be postponed by up to 5 years if certain conditions defined in the Directive are met.

Other notable changes introduced through the proposed Legal Notice include:

  • New provisions aimed at increasing the reuse of packaging and related reporting obligations;
  • The requirement for an authorised packaging waste recovery organisation (previously referred to as a ‘scheme’) to finance any system set up for the collection and treatment of all municipal packaging waste;
  • Amendments to the reporting frequency by authorised packaging waste recovery organisations, which is now on a half-yearly basis;
  • Amendments to the provisions governing the allocation of Local Councils with no agreement in place, which will be based on audited declarations on placement on the market to be submitted by authorised packaging waste recovery organisations on a quarterly basis; and
  • The possibility to make use of economic instruments and other measures to provide incentives for the application of the waste hierarchy.

 

3. Comments

The draft Waste Management (Packaging and Packaging Waste) (Amendment) Regulations, may be viewed from here: EN and MT.

Any comments are to be submitted to ERA by 2nd November 2020 (Closing date extended to 16th November 2020) at the latest, on the following email address: [email protected].

 

We thank you in advance for your input.

 

Publication of information

Please be informed that comments submitted, together with the identity of the contributor, may be published online at the end of the public consultation, unless the contributor objects to the publication of his/her personal data. In this case, the contribution may be published in anonymous form.