Global Product Stewardship Council

GlobalPSC News – January 2013

11 European Producer Responsibility Organizations Release Manifesto on EPR Principles for Packaging

Packaging producer responsibility organizations (PROs) from eleven European countries have issued a joint manifesto for achieving successful extended producer responsibility (EPR) for packaging.

The manifesto and associated media release were published on 18 January, 2013.

The eleven organizations represented are: CONAI (Italy), EcoEmbes (Spain), Ecopack Bulgaria, ECO-ROM Ambalaje (Romania), EKO-KOM (Czech Republic), Envipak (Slovakia), Fost Plus (Belgium), Green Dot Cyprus, Greenpak (Malta), Nedvang (the Netherlands) and Valorlux (Luxembourg).

The manifesto focuses on household packaging and includes five key principles:

EPR organizations should be owned by the obliged companies and run on a not for profit basis.
There needs to be strong governmental support and monitoring.
There are many advantages of having one rather than multiple organizations in each country.
The EPR organization needs to be set up in a way that ensures sustainable financing.
The EPR organization should contribute to packaging optimization and waste prevention.

A new association will be launched in spring 2013 in Brussels to carry out the EPR principles outlined in the manifesto. The participating PROs seek industry support of the EPR principles.

Accreditation of Voluntary Product Stewardship Programs

The Australian Government has released legislative instruments for the accreditation of voluntary product stewardship arrangements. The Product Stewardship (Voluntary Arrangements) Instrument 2012, which sets out the requirements and conditions for accreditation and came into effect on 27 November 2012, is available here. The Product Stewardship Regulation 2012, which sets out the fees and fee structure for accreditation and came into effect on 24 November 2012, is available here. Explanatory statements for each are available at the links provided.

Further information on the consultations undertaken is available on the Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities website. Guidelines to accompany the application form for accreditation are currently being drafted.

Questions may be forwarded to wastepolicy@environment.gov.au.

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