United Kingdom
If your company has a UK turnover exceeding £2 million, owns and performs a relevant activity on any of the packaging it handles, and annually handles more than 50 tonnes of packaging, it may be legally obligated under producer responsibility laws. This system will be reformed in 2023, and companies can expect to pay substantially higher costs as well as face potentially lower de minimis thresholds.
In 2022, there will be a UK wide tax on plastic packaging with less than 30% recycled content, as well as a beverage deposit return scheme for Scotland. The rest of the UK will see a deposit return scheme in 2025.
If your company manufactures under its own brand, re-brands, imports or sells EEE and batteries to household customers in the UK it may be legally obligated under producer responsibility laws.
Europe
Extended Producer Responsibility, or EPR, is an environmental policy that was first introduced in 1988 in Sweden. EPR requires a producer to take responsibility for the entire lifecycle of the products that they put into the market, including their disposal.
The incorporation of EPR which started being implemented on the 1st of January 2022, shifts the cost of collecting household waste from the taxpayer to the producer.
As a result, these requirements came into effect in France and Germany on the 1st of January 2022, however, since then, other countries including Spain and Austria have followed. The EPR legislation is expected to be implemented across the rest of the EU in the years to come.
To ensure compliance, seller must identify the applicable categories of their products and register the corresponding EPR registrations and reports.
EPR is currently compulsory in many of the European countries. Therefore, get in touch with AVASK to find out more.