More than 1.7 1000 comments on the draft extended maker liability bill

In mid-August, the Ministry of Climate and Environment presented a draft law introducing extended maker work for the recovery and recycling of packaging utilized in their products. In the course of the consultation, the Ministry received more than 1.7 1000 comments on it. Companies putting packaging on the marketplace did not like the thought that their fees would be distributed further to the centrally controlled strategy by NFOŚiGW. According to Jakub Tyczkowski of Rekopol, companies will have no influence on how and how effectively these funds are used, so the fee is called a tribute.

– A typical of the Ministry of Climate and Environment informed us that more than 1.7 1000 comments had been received, so a immense work in front of the Ministry to collect all this, analyse it all, – says news agency Jakub Tyczkowski, president of Rekopol. – One of the things to be introduced by the bill is the burden of placing packaging on the market, i.e. producers, the work to cover the costs of selective collection, sorting, preparation for recycling and, in any cases, recycling, if this is negative. We request to know that in Poland specified a tiny ROP has been operating since 1 January 2002, only that in today's legal strategy there is no work to cover costs. The Ministry of Climate has proposed any solutions, which in rule have either met the cool optimism of any or even rejected.

In mid-August, the Ministry of Climate and Environment presented a draft law on packaging and packaging waste (UC100), which aims to reduce the amount of waste entering the environment. It will implement the "polluter pays" principle, which means that producers (putting packaging on the market) will bear the costs of the system. According to the Ministry, the fresh rules will mean little costs for municipalities and citizens and a real work for producers to dispose of the packaging used, which is besides intended to motivate them to improve and "weigh". The little packages are placed on the marketplace by entrepreneurs, the lower the fee they will gotta pay. The authors of the task guarantee that the packaging fee will not affect the price of the product in the store in a noticeable way, and in the first year its amount will scope a maximum of half a penny per packaging.

“The Ministry of Climate and Environment wants to destruct the activities of recovery organisations by nationalising the money stream. It explains that this is essential due to the low efficiency of recovery organisation. The Ministry, on the another hand, does not supply any arguments that this low efficiency is taking place. Currently, the recovery organisation is liable for the implementation of recycling levels, and these have been implemented since 2002, as the best evidence is the reports submitted by Poland to Eurostat. According to them, in Poland these levels are implemented, even in relation to – emphasises Jakub Tyczkowski.

According to the draft law, from 2026 the municipalities will start receiving the first funds from packaging producers. In the following year, backing will increase, and from 2028 the strategy will full apply – it will be producers who will bear the costs of managing packaging waste, and NFOŚiGW will distribute funds between municipalities and another participants in the packaging waste management system.

– The opponents of this task are clear: a strategy based on public tribute, on the distribution of money by the National Fund for Environmental Protection and Water Management, i.e. by a state legal person, is absolutely unacceptable, due to the fact that producers who are expected to cover all the costs of waste management – and they do not discuss it, they know that this is the right thing to do – they besides want to have any influence on what happens to their money. – explains president Rekopol.

Manufacturers point out that the proposed solution is alternatively like a taxation strategy in which citizens, taxpayers pay tribute to the taxation office and do not influence the intent of the money. Companies will gotta pay a certain amount to the National Fund for Environmental Protection and Water Management, which will no longer affect the efficiency of collection and processing. Therefore, they propose that the NFOŚiGW should be replaced by organisations of extended maker responsibility, i.e. private entities, operating on a competitive market, while the state institution should effectively supervise the market.

– ROP is simply a mechanics that aims to make more packaging waste in Poland better sorted, collected and transferred for recycling, and most importantly, we will besides usage more recycling products economically – points out Jakub Tyczkowski. – On the another hand, it seems that it may not happen at the National Environment Fund, due to the fact that it is an office, and we know what the efficiency of money is, which is passed on by the office.

As he points out, packaging recovery organisations and manufacturers placing packaging on the marketplace raised their concerns about the task during the consultation.

– This manufacture clearly said that the ROP strategy in Poland should be built on global experience, that is, in short, business obligations should be implemented by business – Rekopol's president is resuming. – In September last year, the ministry came up with a task that took into account the voice of producers, while after a fewer months it changed and proposed fiscal and redistributive solutions.