The Producer Responsibility Obligations (Packaging Waste) (Amendment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2010

EXPLANATORY NOTE

(This note is not part of the Order)

These Regulations amend the Producer Responsibility Obligations (Packaging Waste) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2007 (S.I. 2007/198) (the “2007 Regulations”), which implement Article 6 of Council Directive 94/62/EC on packaging and packaging waste (OJ No L 365, 31.12.1994, p 10) as amended by Directive 2004/12/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council (OJ No L 47, 18.2.2004, p 26).

Regulation 3 amends definitions in regulation 2(2) of the 2007 Regulations. Regulation 4 amends regulation 5 of the 2007 Regulations to impose direct requirements in relation to the payment of fees and provision of information on producers who become members of registered schemes.

Regulation 5 amends regulation 7(4)(c) of the 2007 Regulations to remove parts of the exemption for small producers in relation to the information that must be provided to the Department each year. This also inserts a new regulation 7(4)(ca) to preserve parts of this exemption for small producers.

Regulation 9 amends regulation 14 of the 2007 Regulations to change when application for scheme registrations must be made and what information must accompany these applications.

Regulation 12 inserts a new regulation 22A into the 2007 Regulations to create an obligation on operators of schemes, producers and accredited reprocessors and exporters to provide information to the Department about circumstances including winding-up orders, the appointment of a receiver and entering administration.

Regulation 13 amends regulation 24 of the 2007 Regulations to change what must be included in business plans submitted as part of an application for accreditation by a reprocessor or exporter.

Regulation 15 changes who may be specified as an approved person for the purpose of issuing certificates of compliance and signing the specified forms.

Regulation 18 amends Schedule 1 to the 2007 Regulations. The amendments include changes to paragraph 1(2) regarding the allocation of producer obligations for those carrying out packer/filler and convertor obligations and a change to paragraph 4(2)(b)(iii) to remove packaging or packaging materials exported from the United Kingdom to a marine installation from the exclusion from the calculation of a producer’s recovery and recycling obligations.

Regulation 19 amends Schedule 2 to the 2007 Regulations. Amendments include a replacement of the definition used to determine the amount of packaging and packaging materials handled by producers for the purpose of calculating their recovery targets; recovery, recycling and small producer recycling allocation targets for the years between 2010 and 2012 are provided in amendments to paragraphs 5,6 and 8;

Regulation 21 amends Schedule 5 to the 2007 Regulations, including changes to the annual reports provided to the Department by accredited reprocessors and exporters and removing the requirement to provide a report from an independent auditor.

An impact assessment which shows the anticipated cost of compliance to businesses and the environmental benefits in respect of these Regulations may be obtained from the Producer Responsibility Unit, Zone 6D, Ergon House, Horseferry Road, London SW1P 2AL.