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WEEE |
Batteries |
Packaging |
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| Jurisdictions |
80 [23] |
44 [11] |
47 [15] |
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| Systems |
230 |
146 |
365 |
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The Commission has therefore launched an initiative which establishes a Product Environmental Footprint (PEF) and an Organisation Environmental Footprint (OEF) to measure environmental performance throughout the lifecycle. It has announced a three-year testing period to develop product- and sector-specific rules through a multi-stakeholder process – a call for volunteers will be published on the Commission’s “Single Market for Green Products” web pages during April, with a view to starting the first wave of pilots in September.
A new Commission Recommendation urges member states, companies, private organisations and the financial community to use the methods laid down in a lengthy Annex to the Recommendation. The methodology was developed by the Commission’s Joint Research Centre, based on existing methods which have been extensively tested and used. The Annex to the Recommendation provides guidance on how to calculate a PEF, and how to develop product category-specific methodological requirements for use in Product Environmental Footprint Category Rules.
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Commission Communication Smart regulation - Responding to the needs of small and medium - sized enterprises says that there will be no changes to the enacting terms of REACH, but there are specific recommendations to reduce the impact of the REACH Regulation on SMEs. It adds that a proposal to relate the levels of fees to be paid to the European Chemicals Agency to the size of the company is being considered.
As regards waste, the Communication says only that the Commission is starting a comprehensive review of EU waste policy and legislation this year. It will cover
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key targets in the Waste Framework Directive, the Landfill Directive and the Packaging and Packaging Waste Directive;
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an ex-post evaluation ("fitness check") of the waste stream Directives (including packaging, WEEE, batteries and end-of-life vehicles); and
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an assessment of how the problem of plastic waste can be better tackled.
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Eco3e aims to inform senior management, design, marketing and purchasing departments about
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Regulations and Directives linked to eco-design (WEEE, RoHS, EuP and REACH as well as eco-labels) ;
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Eco design tools (ISO standards, life cycle analysis, indicators …) ;
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Plans to improve the recycling of EEE, organised by type of equipment (7 sample products including washing machines, printers and mobile phones) and secondary materials stream.
Unfortunately the site does not mention the ‘eco-design criteria’ that French WEEE systems have had to apply since July 2010 for charging differentiated recycling fees to producers (see news item).
Eco3e is the result of three years’ collaboration between recycling experts, the four compliance schemes and teachers at the ‘Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Arts et Métiers de Chambéry’ which offers a Masters programme in Eco-design and environmental management.
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The Technical Adaptation Committee on the Packaging and Packaging Waste Directive (the ‘Article 21 Committee’) has held a number of inconclusive discussions about ‘borderline items’ since 2006. In December 2011 it considered but was unable to agree on a proposal for a Commission Directive which would have amended Annex I to the Directive (the definitions) through the comitology (delegated powers) procedure.
The draft was not agreed by the Committee because of disagreement over the status of release paper, and in March 2012 it was submitted to the Council to decide. ‘Release paper of self-adhesive labels’ was omitted from the March 2012 text. The Council did not take a vote because it was clear that there would not be a qualified majority in favour (there was opposition to defining rolls, tubes and cores, coat hangers and matchboxes and gas cylinders as packaging). The Commission therefore resubmitted the proposal as a Commission Directive in July 2012. The European Parliament had no objections, and the Directive was finally published in the Official Journal on 8 February.
The rules do not permit the Commission to change anything in the text without resubmitting it to the European Parliament, so 30 September 2013, the date in the Commission’s 28 March 2012 proposal for a Council Directive, remains the deadline for member states to bring the Directive into force on their national territories.
The following have been added to the illustrative list of items to be regarded as packaging:
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mailing pouches for catalogues and magazines (with a magazine inside);
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cake doilies sold with a cake;
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rolls, tubes and cylinders around which flexible material (e.g. plastic film, aluminium, paper) is wound, except rolls, tubes and cylinders intended as parts of production machinery and not used to present a product as a sales unit;
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flower pots intended to be used only for the selling and transporting of plants and not intended to stay with the plant throughout its life time;
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glass bottles for injection solutions;
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CD spindles (sold with CDs, not intended to be used as storage);
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clothes hangers (sold with an item of clothing);
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matchboxes;
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sterile barrier systems (pouches, trays and materials necessary to preserve the sterility of the product);
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beverage system capsules (e.g. coffee, cocoa, milk) which are left empty after use;
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refillable steel cylinders used for various kinds of gas, excluding fire extinguishers.
Mechanical querns (integrated into a non-refillable container and filled with a product (e.g. a pepper mill filled with pepper) would be considered part of the packaging.
Also to be considered packaging, if designed and intended to be filled at the point of sale, is plastic film around cleaned clothes in laundries.
Items not to be considered packaging are
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clothes hangers (sold separately);
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beverage system coffee capsules, coffee foil pouches, and filter paper coffee pods disposed of together with the used coffee product;
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printer cartridges;
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CD, DVD and video cases (sold together with a CD, DVD or video inside);
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CD spindles (sold empty, intended to be used for storage);
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soluble bags for detergents;
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grave side lights (containers for candles);
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mechanical quern integrated into a refillable container (e.g. a refillable pepper mill);
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wrapping paper (sold separately);
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paper baking cases (sold empty);
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cake doilies sold without a cake; and
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radio frequency identification (RFID) tags.
Link: Commission Directive 2013/2/EU of 7 February 2013
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The following tables track recent reported progress in the “EU-27” (the whole of the EU), “EU-15”, the 15 countries in membership of the EU before 2004; and “EU-10”, the 10 mainland countries which joined the EU in 2004 and 2007 (i.e. not Cyprus and Malta, island nation-states which have special challenges meeting the targets).
The targets in the Directive apply to 12 of the EU-15 member states from 2008. The deadline for Greece, Ireland and Portugal applies from 2011. Most of the “new” member states were given until 2012 to meet the targets, but Malta’s deadline is 2013, Poland’s 2014 and Latvia’s 2015.
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Overall recovery rate
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2007
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2008
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2009
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2010
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EU-27 total |
73%
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73%
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75%
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76%
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EU-15 total |
75%
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75%
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77%
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79%
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EU-10 total |
55%
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53%
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54%
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57%
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All but one of the EU-15 member states achieved the 60% recovery target in 2010. Greece was at 59%, but still had a year to go to meet the target. Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Lithuania and Slovenia were already exceeding the target. Cyprus reports a recovery and recycling rate of 50% in 2010, but Malta’s reported recovery rate fell from 37% in 2009 to 29% in 2010, its recycling rate being one percentage point lower.
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Overall recycling rate
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2007
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2008
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2009
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2010
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EU-27 total |
59%
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61%
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62%
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63%
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EU-15 total |
61%
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62%
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65%
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65%
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EU-10 total |
47%
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46%
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46%
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47%
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In 2010, all EU-15 member states exceeded the 55% overall recycling target, the 60% paper & board recycling target and the 22.5% plastics recycling target. Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Lithuania, Poland and Slovenia were already exceeding the target.
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Glass recycling rate
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2007
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2008
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2009
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2010
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EU-27 total |
64%
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66%
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68%
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70%
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EU-15 total |
66%
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69%
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70%
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72%
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EU-10 total |
42%
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48%
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49%
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52%
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In 2010 Portugal (57%) and Greece (21%) had not yet met the 60% glass recycling target, but they had until 2011 to do so. The Czech Republic, Lithuania and Slovenia were already exceeding the target.
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Metals recycling rate
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2007
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2008
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2009
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2010
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EU-27 total |
67%
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68%
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69%
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71%
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EU-15 total |
69%
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70%
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72%
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74%
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EU-10 total |
45%
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46%
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51%
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55%
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In 2010, all EU-15 member states except Greece (42%) exceeded the 50% metals recycling target. The only “new” member states not already meeting the target were Malta (33%), Poland (46%), Slovakia (41%) and Slovenia (33%).
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Paper & board recycling rate
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2007
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2008
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2009
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2010
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EU-27 total |
78%
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81%
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83%
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83%
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|
EU-15 total |
79%
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82%
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85%
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85%
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EU-10 total |
75%
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73%
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68%
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68%
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In 2010, all EU-15 member states exceeded the 60% paper & board recycling target. The only “new” member states not already meeting the target were Malta (51%), Poland (57%), Slovakia (51%) and Slovenia (33%).
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Plastics recycling rate
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2007
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2008
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2009
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2010
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EU-27 total |
28%
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30%
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32%
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33%
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EU-15 total |
28%
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31%
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33%
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33%
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EU-10 total |
27%
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27%
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29%
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32%
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In 2010, all EU-15 member states exceeded the 22.5% plastics recycling target. The only “new” member states not already meeting the target were Malta (22%) and Poland (20%).
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Per capita packaging consumption (kg)
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2007
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2008
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2009
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2010
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EU-27 total |
164
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163
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153
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157
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EU-15 total |
187
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183
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172
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176
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EU-10 total |
79
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88
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80
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84
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Per capita packaging consumption in EU-15 in 2009 and 2010 was at its lowest rates since 2002, when consumption was 175 kg. There has been a 4.8% increase since 1998, when packaging consumption was at 168 kg per capita.
There has been a 6.3% increase in per capita packaging consumption in “EU-10” since 2005, when packaging consumption was at 79 kg per capita.
For more details see Perchards’ full EU Packaging Data report which will be available shortly.
* EUROSTAT 2010 packaging and packaging waste data
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The Scottish Government has now launched a consultation entitled A Landfill Tax for Scotland.
The core principles it intends to adopt for environmental tax policy are that:
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an environmental tax, or adjustment of existing taxes to promote sustainable use of resources, should only be considered where it can be demonstrated that it will help address or mitigate an environmental problem;
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to help companies’ long-term planning and ensure that environmental problems will be solved in the most economically efficient way, environmental taxation should send a clear signal to both consumers and producers about the outcomes sought;
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environmental taxation should not disadvantage Scottish companies, and lower income groups should not pay a greater share of the overall tax take.
“The Scottish Government is aware of the risks that differential landfill tax rates and policies could have on the movement of waste across the border. In taking forward any future changes to tax rates and thresholds the Scottish Government is committed to understanding the full implications that different tax rates or policies could have on the movement of waste across the border.”
The consultation paper says that the UK landfill tax works well, so the Scottish Government does not intend to make significant changes. To provide the policy certainty needed to support investment decisions in waste and resources infrastructure, the Scottish Government intends to introduce the tax, at least at the same rate(s) as the UK system in April 2015, and to maintain a similar weight-based two rate system. Assuming that current UK policies remain unchanged, that would mean that the standard rate would be set at £80 (EUR 99) a tonne, and the lower rate (on inert waste such as construction waste) at £2.50 (EUR 3.10) a tonne.
Thus, the consultation focuses on possible changes to the list of materials qualifying for the lower tax rate or for total exemption, and on changes to the eligibility of projects for support from the landfill tax revenues. The Scottish Government proposes to increase the amount of funding available to projects for the first three years of the scheme by 10% over the current system. At current landfill rates, this would channel an extra £500,000 (EUR 620,000) toward the fund.
The Scottish Government intends to take this opportunity to customise tax collection arrangements for the Scottish situation. Instead of using HM Revenue and Customs to collect the tax, it will be collected by a new agency, Revenue Scotland, which will work with the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA). Savings can be made by linking SEPA’s existing permitting role for landfill sites with Scotland’s new tax collection duties.
The consultation paper comments that the Scottish Government and Scottish Parliament do not as yet have sufficient economic and financial powers to enable an overall taxation system to be created that would give genuine options for using taxation as an economic lever to help boost growth and jobs. The tax base provided by the two devolved taxes is simply too narrow to operate as an effective economic lever or to support meaningful changes to tax levels. However, “by establishing national tax collection arrangements for Scotland, these taxes will be a step on the road to devolution of further taxes and will give Scottish taxpayers an opportunity to get a better understanding of how the transition to independence will take place.”
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