The Producer Is Responsible for
Packaging in the European Union

by Garth T. Hickle

Motivated by a desire to realign the waste management responsibilities of business and government, the European Union has enacted producer responsibility requirements for several products, most notably automobiles, electronics, and packaging.

The concept of producer responsibility was enshrined in EU waste policy with its inclusion in the 1996 Community Waste Strategy. Following the strategy, Directives followed for end of life vehicles (ELV) in 2001 and waste electronics and electrical equipment (WEEE) in 2003.

The focus on packaging waste was greatly accelerated by the German Packaging Ordinance which came became effective in 1991. The German Ministry of the Environment was motivated by diminishing landfill capacity and the growing volume of waste generated by households. Through the Ordinance and the subsequent creation of Duals System Deutschland (DSD) and the "Green Dot" the German government sought to discourage the use of unnecessary packaging, promote the use of reusable and recyclable packaging, and engage manufacturers in a closed loop system for packaging.

Some U.S. packaging firms already meet or exceed the European Union regulations. RockTenn has been closing the loop in packaging materials for almost 100 years, and these piles of trash soon return to consumers in cereal boxes.

The European Union Packaging Directive

Following the example in Germany, the European Union first took steps to address packaging waste in the member countries in 1994 with the enactment of the Packaging Directive. The Directive requires member states to enact programs to reduce packaging waste. The Directive established recovery and recycling rates for waste packaging, required reductions in the heavy metal content of packaging and obligated member states to implement recycling education campaigns among other provisions.

This legislation wanted to promote environmental protection, resource conservation and to spur manufacturers to develop more environmentally-preferable packaging while ensuring the functioning of the EU market and striving for consistency.

As an illustration of the recovery and recycling rates, Member States were required to introduce systems for the return and/or collection of waste packaging to achieve goals as defined in the Directive. The following targets were established by a revised directive adopted in 2004:

• Recovery of at least 60% and recycling of between 55% and 80% by weight of the packaging waste by December 2008
• Material-specific minimum recycling rate of starting at 15% for wood and climbing to 60% for glass and paper by December 2008

By December 2007, the European Parliament and the Council, acting on a proposal from the Commission, will establish targets for 2009-2014.

One key aspect of the packaging Directives outcomes is to establish consistency as to how the member states would address packaging waste. The success of the harmonization is debatable, in part due to the often significant role played by municipalities, but each program has similar components. Each country has a functioning third-party organization, often referred to as a producer responsibility organization, to implement the industry obligations. These organizations participate in PRO Europe an overarching entity to promote consistency among packaging programs in Europe.

Following enactment of the EU Packaging Directive, producer responsibility for packaging has gained prominence globally as a key strategy for addressing packaging waste. Though, each jurisdiction has implemented policy and programs in a very diverse fashion—for instance, Japan, Australia, and several provinces in Canada have embraced producer responsibility but have implemented programs with varying mechanisms and degrees of responsibility—packaging of a company's products sold world-wide are well advised to meet the standards of their most restrictive market, even if some of their markets have more lax (or nonexistent) regulations. Word WILL get around, with the negative impact on both brand and corporate image far outweighing any small profit advantage gained by "gaming" the rules in each country.

Garth T. Hickle is the product stewardship team leader for the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency and on the faculty of the Minneapolis College of Art and Design's groundbreaking Sustainable Design Certificate Program (www.online.mcad.edu).