​You may have heard of the term 'Recyclability Assessment' through various voluntary Green initiatives but have you realized this has been making its way into the EPR regulations? Let's delve deeper into what this means for your packaging obligations.What is a Recyclability Assessment?A Recyclability Assessment involves a thorough evaluation of packaging ...

​No longer a distant missile, textile reporting has already landed in several European countries, and is continuing to spread across the EU.A previous Lorax blog on textiles from 2021 stated that the EU Waste Framework Directive currently only requires member states to set up separate collection for textiles by 1 January 2025. More is needed to put this i...

The International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB) has launched its first two International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) that will aim to harmonise corporate climate disclosures, the IFRS S1 and IFRS S2 standards. Under the EU rules, listed companies have to prepare their consolidated financial statements according to a single set of internat...

​As anyone who has tried to design a packaging solution that can be placed in multiple markets will know from bitter experience, European labelling legislation is complex and occasionally contradictory. Does the EU's proposed Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation offer some hope for the future?At the moment, there are no mandatory EU-wide labelling re...

​After much speculation and anticipation, the EU has released its proposed Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation, a revision to the Packaging and Packaging Waste Directive (PPWD). One of the key changes within the proposal is a change in legal standing, turning it into a 'Regulation' and not a 'Directive'. This means that if implemented, the new regula...

​The European Union's current battery legislation was introduced in 2006 with Directive 2006/66/EC. With the current directive being subject to differing interpretations and with battery technology having changed substantially since 2006, the EU is now working on implementing new regulations. First presented in 2020, the new battery regulations showcased ...

​EU waste framework directive (amended 2018) introduced the modulation of the financial contribution to Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) schemes. This minimises waste packaging generation and incentivises the designs with better recyclability and sustainability. In other words, if your packaging is easier to be collected and recycled in the local i...

3R principles (Reduce, Reuse, Recycle) have been brought up more regularly in countries' waste management policies. One of the key elements – 'Reuse', has been integrated into legislative requirements for packaging in some countries.There are three main types of requirements regarding reusable packaging:Mandatory targets for reusable packaging have been s...

​It is the countdown for the beginning of the UK plastic packaging tax.Next month, on 1 April 2022, if you import or manufacture more than 10 tonnes of plastic packaging annually, you will be obligated to register with HMRC for the UK plastics packaging tax. The first accounting period will be from 1 April to 30 June, and the first tax return and payment ...

​Many companies are aware of the requirement to report their packaging waste to a compliance/stewardship scheme and pay for the costs incurred. But increasing numbers of countries also require producers to register with a national authority - and potentially report data or undergo period audits.​​In Europe, this requirement stems from the EU's Packaging ...

​​This blog is part of a wider series from Lorax EPI, taking a deep dive into the current and future landscapes for packaging extended producer responsibility (EPR) regulations on a global scale.This blog focuses on Europe - where the concept of EPR first really took hold in the 1990s. The majority of European countries (whether or not members of the EU)...

The EU Single-Use Plastics Directive, which was passed by the EU Commission in May 2019, enacts bans on certain single-use products, recycled content targets for some plastics and measures to reduce plastic food and beverage containers. It also requires Member States to ensure that national laws mandate new labels for sanitary towels, wet wipes, tobacco f...

​PCR Content and Its BenefitsPost-consumer recycled content (PCR) refers to material that is made from items recycled by consumers. Usually, recyclable items such as plastics, metals and cardboards/paper are collected by the local recycling program and transported to facilities for sorting based on material type. Recycled bales will then be purchased and ...

​Last week, the first regional Plastics Pact was launched in Europe. Governments and businesses from across the European Economic Area (EEA) have joined together to commit to reducing plastic waste and move towards creating a circular economy for plastics. Signatories of the European Plastics Pact commit to a number of shared goals, including:Designing a...

​​Eco-modulation is a concept which is being talked about (and implemented) increasingly frequently by governments and stewardship/EPR schemes. But what is it? At the most basic level, eco-modulation is the concept of penalising the use of materials that are less environmentally friendly, and rewarding the use of those which are better - for example, thr...

​On 20 June, the Regulation (EU) 2019/1020 of the European Parliament and of the Council on market surveillance and compliance of products, was published. The new legislation prohibits products from being placed on the market in the EU unless the producer has an economic operator established in the EU. The aim of the Regulation is to prevent free riders f...

​The Packaging innovations event was held by Easyfairs over the 27th and 28th February with a major focus on sustainability. The Ecopack stage provided talks from industry experts, made more relevant than ever with the release of consultations from the UK Government. The consultations cover a tax on plastic packaging with less than 30% recycled content; a...

On 18th January, the Council of the European Union published the Proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on the reduction of the impact of certain plastic products on the environment. The objective of this proposal is to prevent and reduce the impact of certain plastic products on the environment, in particular the aquatic e...

On 24th October, the European Parliament voted to back an EU ban on throwaway plastics by 2021. Items such as plates, cutlery, straws, balloon sticks will be banned if approved by the Member States ministers at the next stage of talks. In addition, MEPs added oxo-plastics and certain polystyrenes to the to the ban proposed by the commission. Furthermore, ...

The majority of Lorax staff attended RWM Conference 2018 after such a positive experience in 2017. We heard from countless waste and resources experts, consultants, members of advisory committees, NGOs and an inspiring MP. Key themes of the conference included global extended producer responsibility, plastic packaging and pollution, the future of EPR and ...

The EU WEEE Directive (Directive 2012/19/EU) introduced a number of changes to the original Directive (Directive 2002/96/EC), including an 'Open Scope' of 6 revised categories instead of the previous 10, which according to the Directive are to be introduced from 15 August 2018. The Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Directive, which was made an EU ...

In an Environment Audit Committee session with Michael Gove, the Secretary of State was quizzed on the future of environmental standards following Brexit. Gove reaffirmed that the Government wants to enhance or even increase the level of environmental standards currently in place, although the Committee insist that following the publication of the Governm...

The OECD published a report in June 2018, detailing the impact of online sales of electronic and electrical equipment (EEE) in Europe, the United States and Canada. Online sales of EEE are now a major and growing part of retail in most OECD countries. A very significant proportion of these sales involve cross-border trade, and free-riding related to this ...

​The EU Directive 94/62/EC on Packaging and Packaging Waste of 1994, as amended, lays down measures to prevent production of packaging waste, reuse of packaging, recycling and other forms of recovering packaging waste and therefore reducing the final disposal of such waste. The majority of Member States have implemented this through extended producer resp...

Extended producer responsibility Producers of packaging in Europe are obligated under the European Union's Packaging and Packaging Waste Directive to cover the cost of collection and recycling of packaging waste. They do this by paying a fee for the weight of packaging they place on the market in each respective country. This fee is usually paid to a pack...

What is it?The Green Dot is a widely recognised symbol on packaging in many European Countries. The mark signifies that for that piece of packaging, a financial contribution has been paid to a national packaging recovery organisation, set up in accordance with the principles defined in the European Packaging and Packaging Waste Directive 94/62 and the res...

On 14 June, the Official Journal of the European Union published the EU waste legislative package which includes amendments to the Directives on end-of-life vehicles; batteries and accumulators and waste batteries and accumulators; waste electrical and electronic equipment; landfill of waste; waste and packaging and packaging waste among others. These ame...

On the 5th, 6th and 7th of June this year, the annual packaging waste and sustainability forum was held in Brussels. The days were filled with interesting talks from members of the European Commission, producers and retailers, industry representatives and producer responsibility organisations (PROs) who addressed topics such as the new EU recycling target...

On the 22nd and 23rd May, edie held their energy, sustainability and resource efficiency conference at the National Exhibition Centre in Birmingham. Their theme this year was mission possible: achieving a sustainable future. The conference was packed with exhibitions, advice clinics and a live theatre programme which was split into four areas: sustainabil...

Our new website is launching today…May the 4th….which means our techy folk at Lorax Compliance thought it deserved a Star Wars themed unveiling. And what is more Star Wars than a lightsaber? Even humble Jedi should be aware of their environmental implications and as a product with a unique supply chain, lightsaber manufactures are often unsure of their ex...

EU BudgetOn 2nd May​​, the EU announces its budget for 2021 – 2027. The budget includes a section on modern sources of funding for the EU. On account of Brexit, there is a resulting net loss in the EU's budget and furthermore new EU priorities require new investment. The Commission has proposed to fund these through a combination of fresh money (80%), red...

Today, 18th April, the European Parliament voted to approve the package, a key part of the Circular Economy Action Plan, to update the current waste management rules. There was an overwhelming majority with 639 votes to 13 and 17 absentions. There are new, ambitious recycling and landfilling targets which will be used to increase the re-use of materials a...

Product stewardship covers producer responsibility and other government regulatory programs. Under the producer responsibility umbrella, comes voluntary programs and then mandatory programs – these are extended producer responsibility (EPR) programs. The OECD defines EPR as 'an environmental policy approach in which a producer's responsibility… for a prod...

On the 8th March, the European Parliament published amendments to the Cohesion policy and the circular economy draft opinion​. ​​​​​The amendments include numerous changes and several new paragraphs concerning implementation of the circular economy in Member States and the impact of China's new restrictions. The amendments bring​ a focus onto the need fo...

On the 20th and 21st February, the European Commission held an EU Stakeholder Conference on the circular economy. The conference aimed to address the challenges and opportunities in delivering the circular economy through plenary sessions, a number of break out sessions and keynote speeches. ​The first plenary session discussed the EU Strategy for Plastic...

Similar to WEEE, packaging and batteries, vehicles are subject to extended producer responsibility (EPR) regulations in the EU to ensure they are disposed of in an environmentally sound manner at the end of their useful life. Producers in member states are obligated for vehicles, including their components, spare and replacement parts and materials. EUA ...

On 18th December, the Estonian presidency reached a provisional agreement with representatives of the European Parliament on all four legislative proposals of the waste package. The revised circular economy package was presented by the European Commission on 3rd December 2015 with four waste legislative proposals of the waste package and an Action Plan in...

In June this year, ECHA released a revised guidance​ concerning articles under REACH. The European Court of Justice ruling from September 2015 means that the 0.1% concentration of candidate list substance threshold now applies to individual components within the products. ​Whereas previously, t​​​​he threshold applied to the concentration over a whole com...

Currently in the UK, electrical and electronic equipment (EEE) and WEEE are categorised and reported under 14 categories which comprises of 10 compulsory categories and 4 subcategories. The EU WEEE Directive (Directive 2012/19/EU) introduced a number of changes to the original Directive (Directive 2002/96/EC), inclu​ding an 'Open Scope' of 6 revised categ...

​​In a new Brexit paper, released on 21st August, the UK states its position on where businesses stand when they have undertaken compliance activities prior to Britain leaving the EU. The main conclusion of this paper is that businesses who place goods on the market before exit from the EU will not have to duplicate compliance activities. There is often a...

What will happen to REACH legislation in the UK once we leave the EU? There has been much speculation over the past few months as to which regulatory direction UK REACH will head in once we leave the EU. This blog aims to give you the latest developments for chemical legislation in the UK in light of Brexit. Background The EU regulati...

Are you aware of the penalties in place for non-compliance with producer responsibility legislation not just in the UK but across the EU?The Environment Agency today published information regarding Babz Media Ltd, who have been ordered to pay £45,500 in fines and £8,724.98 in costs for non-compliance with packaging, WEEE and batteries legislation. A first...