Joy for approval among Spain’s conservation agencies packing ordinanceat the Council of Ministers this Tuesday. Even Ecoembes, the manager of these containers, expressed his satisfaction with the new standard. Fears voiced by ecologists a few days ago were allayed when this was confirmed. the last text contains the main claimsSuch as the implementation of the Deposit, Return and Return System, the prohibition of bisphenol A and Phthalates in food packaging, and the obligation of manufacturers to declare how many packages they put on the market.
Some of the main contents of the decree that developed the Waste Law, which was approved months ago, are as follows:
-Reducing the number of plastic bottles.- By 2030, the amount of plastic bottles offered for sale will need to be reduced by 20% from the current amount in 2022.
– More fruits in bulk.- Food stores should sell fresh fruit and vegetables in bulk, provided they do not exceed 1.5 kilos or appear in other specific situations such as organic farming. Food stores with an area of more than 400 square meters must dedicate at least 20% of their space to products without primary packaging or in reusable containers.
– Avoid misleading slogans.- It is forbidden to use the slogan ‘environmentally friendly’ or any similar slogan that may cause the container to be abandoned in its natural environment.
-Manufacturers pay for the management of their waste.- With the new decree, plastic container manufacturers have to bear the total cost arising from the management of wastes, including wastes left by consumers in nature.
-Encourage packaging return in store.- The Decree confirms that the Return, Deposit and Return System has been implemented for the containers, ie the bottle is returned to the store where it was purchased after the contents have been consumed. It is an alternative system to the yellow container storage of containers that have achieved very high recovery rates in the countries where it currently operates.
-Information on how many packages have been marketed.- One of the biggest puzzles of the packaging system in Spain, even today, is the number of bottles and cans that manufacturers put up for sale. Now, a Register of Manufacturers has been created, where all manufacturers who have to provide information about the containers released annually, the management of their waste and the financial management of the systems must be registered.
-Plastic will be taxed.- The tax on non-reusable plastic containers is another of the measures that will affect almost the entire plastics industry, not specifically in this decree, but in the new Waste Law approved in April. The tax, which will come into effect on January 1, will be applied to pharmacies, shampoos, gel bottles; detergent containers, bottles, storage packaging for carrying beverage cans, bubble wrap to protect objects… Affected companies have already opposed this and have warned of the damage caused by the tax.
“They will have to declare how many bottles they have sold”
After the approval of the decree, the organizations of Friends of the Earth, Ecoologists in Action, Greenpeace, Returns, Rezero and Surfrider Spain, which formed the Zero Waste Alliance, expressed their satisfaction.
“For the first time with this Royal DecreeBeverage manufacturers with plastic bottles are obliged to declare how many bottles they put on the market each year.The Zero Waste Alliance valued its members.
Specifically, the Royal Decree on packaging is the regulation created to reduce serious plastic pollution in the land and marine environment, which should ensure that targets for the separate collection of plastic bottles smaller than three liters are measured.
“The Waste Law stipulates that if 70% of the plastic beverage bottles placed on the market by 2023 are not recycled in the yellow container, we will be able to return the helmet through the Deposit System for cans, bottles and briquettes. To comply with this roadmap, it is essential that the packaging waste segregation manager is not responsible for individually counting the recovered bottles. Finally, this demand of civil society has been met, thanks to the cooperation between the Ministry of Teresa Ribera and the Ione Belarra Ministry of Social Rights and Agenda 2030.”
Organizations are also praising the endorsement of the ban on the use of Phthalates and Bisphenol A in food packaging. “This ban was already included in the Waste Law and is essential to protect people’s health, especially pregnant women, against substances known to be hormone disruptors and to have a major impact on certain cancers.”
Ecoembes also applauds the decision
Even Ecoembes, now the organization responsible for packaging waste management in Spain, accepted the approved decree: “We believe this royal decree is one of the most important regulatory milestones in waste cyclicality in the last quarter of the century. In our country,” he assured Ecoembes.
“Our full support for the goals of this standardcoexisting with an obvious difficulty in its implementation and compliance, which will require the prudence of public authorities to ensure that everyone without exception fulfills their obligations”.
from Ecoembes “They applaud the ambition of the standard that has crystallized on a principle we’ve been advocating for years: the best waste is the one that isn’t produced”.
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Contact details of the environment department: [email protected]