Other instruments of interest
DRAFT PRODUCER RESPONSIBILITY OBLIGATIONS (PACKAGING
WASTE) (AMENDMENT NO. 2) REGULATIONS 2008
18. The Department for Environment, Food and
Rural Affairs (DEFRA) have laid these draft Regulations. Regulations
made in 2007 (the Producer Responsibility Obligations (Packaging
Waste) Regulations 2007 (S.I. 2007/871)) impose on exporters
an obligation to be accredited by either the Environment Agency
or the Scottish Environment Protection Agency before they may
issue a packaging waste export recovery note (PERN). The PERN
provides evidence of the export of packaging waste for reprocessing
outside the United Kingdom. Under the 2007 Regulations, an application
for accreditation as an exporter can be granted only if the Agencies
are satisfied that a reprocessing site outside the United Kingdom
operates under conditions that are "broadly equivalent"
to those prescribed by relevant Community legislation. DEFRA have
explained that exporters of metal waste are finding it increasingly
difficult to obtain evidence of "broadly equivalent"
conditions from overseas re-processors. The changes made by the
latest Regulations will mean that the Agencies will have more
discretion on what constitutes sound evidence of "broadly
equivalent" conditions, and that this may be based on waste-specific
environmental criteria (including proper sorting, existence of
a quality system for reprocessing, no environmental dis-benefits
and a buoyant market). We note that DEFRA have stated that, in
making these changes, the requirements of the Regulations will
reflect more closely the wording in the EU Directive[3]
which they serve to implement. This statement is perhaps recognition
that the approach followed in the 2007 Regulations represented
over-implementation of the EU legislation.
3 Council Directive 94/62/EC on packaging and packaging
waste (as amended by Council Regulation (EC) No. 1882/2003; Council
Directive 2004/12/EC; and Council Directive 2005/20/EC) Back
|
