Environmental

​From May 1, 2019 WEEE scope is being extended to passive equipment such as cables, sockets, plugs, switches, aerials and busbars in Germany. The new rule is only of relevance to end-equipment designed for operation with a maximum alternating voltage (AC) of 1,000 volts or a maximum direct voltage (DC) of 1,500 volts. Passive devices belong to categories ...

​The Packaging innovations event was held by Easyfairs over the 27th and 28th February with a major focus on sustainability. The Ecopack stage provided talks from industry experts, made more relevant than ever with the release of consultations from the UK Government. The consultations cover a tax on plastic packaging with less than 30% recycled content; a...

​EPR legislation have been proposed in both Washington State and Indiana. If the Bills are passed, producers in the states will become responsible for the end-of-life packaging waste created from the products they place on the market. Washington StateIn Washington State, the Senate Bill 5397 would make producers responsible for the design and management ...

In Ontario the e-waste stewardship program is being wound-up and is set to cease by 30th June, 2020. This is due to the transition of the current program to a circular economy regime. During the running of the e-waste program, Ontario Electronic Stewardship collects and remits HTS on the fees charged to the stewards. Due to charging eco-fees to consumers...

In Hong Kong, a mandatory scheme has been introduced to create a circular economy for glass. This will provide practicable solutions for at source separation, collection logistics, proper treatment and recovery outlets for the waste glass material. The Promotion of Recycling and Proper Disposal (Product Container) (Amendment) Bill 2015​, which lays out th...

The UK Plastics Pact, brought about by WRAP, aims to create a circular economy for plastics. Through bringing together businesses from the entire plastics value chain with UK governments and NGOs, with the goal of overcoming plastic waste. Business members who are responsible for placing plastic packaging on the UK market are obligated to contribute a rep...

The Ontario Ministry of the Environment is currently holding consultations with stakeholders in the electronics / electrical equipment and batteries sector regarding the approaching circular economy regulation for EEE and batteries (and their packaging). The consultation ends on 6th February and will focus on the key decisions affecting industry as part o...

On 18th January, the Council of the European Union published the Proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on the reduction of the impact of certain plastic products on the environment. The objective of this proposal is to prevent and reduce the impact of certain plastic products on the environment, in particular the aquatic e...

Following our last blog covering EPR updates in South America, we have more news to keep you up to speed. There has been further development in EPR legislation alongside many single-use plastic restrictions. In Brazil, we see the further development of the National Solid Waste Policy. A new Chamber of Deputies Bill No. 11186/2018 would make amendments to...

The French household packaging compliance scheme, Citeo, has announced updates to reporting for 2019 data which will be submitted in 2020. There are changes to the bonus and penalty system and a simplified return for the consumer sales unit statement which has been phased in over the past couple of years. For 2019 data, the tariffs for the sectoral decla...

An extended producer responsibility obligation for non-packaging products exists in Slovakia in addition to the obligation for EEE, batteries and accumulators, packaging, vehicles and pneumatic tyres. Non- packaging products belong to one of the following groups of products which will become a part of municipal waste:Articles of plastics consisting of pol...

In Germany, the new Packaging Act (VerpackG) came into effect on 1 January this year with more onerous obligations placed on companies with significantly more packaging that needs to be recycled. Obligated producers must have been registered with the new Central Office by 1 January through the packaging register LUCID or will face fines of up to 200,000 E...

Extended producer responsibility and general waste legislation has been developing continually in Latin America for a few years now. Here is a summary of the latest and most significant legislative updates. In Brazil, Law No. 8151 of 1​ November 2018 established the system of reverse logistics of packaging and packaging waste, within the scope of the Sta...

Today, 18th December, the UK Government has launched their long-awaited Resourses and Waste Strategy (RWS) as part of the 25 Year Environment Plan. In the Plan, the Government pledged to leave the environment in a better condition for the next generation, the RWS will be implemented to meet this commitment by becoming a world leader in using resources eff...

The Environment Audit Committee (EAC) is investigating the social and environmental impact of disposable fast fashion and the wider clothing industry. The inquiry is looking into how clothes can be recycled, and the waste and pollution reduced. On 27th November, the EAC questioned leading high street, luxury and online fashion retailers as part of their i...

Changes will be introduced for the Italian packaging scheme, Conai, from January 1st 2019. There will be diversification for polylaminated packaging suitable for containing liquids, such as containers used for fruit juices, milk and preserves. Compared to the environmental contribution for paper and cardboard packaging of €20.00 per ton, the additional c...