Rules to reduce, recycle and recover packaging waste in Spain

Automatic summary, not yet reviewed

1. The law aims to prevent and reduce the environmental impact of packaging and packaging waste. The first priority is preventing waste; after that, reusing, recycling and recovering, to reduce what ends up being disposed of.
2. It sets targets that had to be met by June 30, 2001: recover between 50% and 65% by weight of packaging waste, recycle between 25% and 45% (with a minimum of 15% per material) and reduce total packaging waste by at least 10% by weight. There is also an intermediate recycling target at thirty-six months.
3. It creates a deposit, return and take-back system: packers and sellers must charge an amount for each container sold and return it when the customer brings back the empty container. That amount is not a price and is not taxed.
4. As an alternative, economic agents can join integrated waste management systems that guarantee periodic collection of used packaging and meet the targets. These systems are authorized by the Autonomous Communities, last five years renewable, and cannot be transferred to third parties.
5. Packaging must meet manufacturing and composition requirements, with limits on heavy metals (lead, cadmium, mercury and hexavalent chromium) that drop progressively to 100 ppmppm Parts per million: a unit that measures the concentration of one substance within another. in 2001. Packaging must also carry visible, legible marking, and labels such as "non-returnable" are banned.
6. It creates a penalty system with minor, serious and very serious offenses, with fines of up to 100 million pesetas in the most serious cases, and allows goods to be confiscated. Enforcement belongs to the bodies of the Autonomous Communities.

Who it affects

• Packers and retailers: They must charge and refund the deposit for each container or join an integrated management system.
• Packaging manufacturers and importers: They must use material from packaging waste and take back waste if no one else does.
• Consumers: They can return empty containers and get the deposit back, and must hand in waste separated by material.
• Local governments (Entidades locales): They can sign agreements with integrated systems for selective collection and be compensated for extra costs.
• Autonomous Communities: They authorize and monitor the integrated systems and enforce penalties.

Words worth knowing

Valorización (recovery)

Making use of the resources in waste, for example through recycling or incineration with energy recovery.

Sistema integrado de gestión (integrated management system)

A nonprofit organization set up by companies to collect and treat used packaging so the companies do not have to apply the deposit and return system.

ppm

Parts per million: a unit that measures the concentration of one substance within another.

Reserva de ley (statutory reserve)

The principle that certain matters can only be regulated by a law passed by the Cortes, not by government rules.

It summarizes the law as published in the BOE. It is written by artificial intelligence and may contain mistakes: the official text is what counts. Read the official text · How we make summaries