The manufacturer will be responsible for the disposal of the packaging of goods

Manufacturers should be fully, not partly, responsible for disposing of packaging from manufactured goods, and not sending such waste to landfill. A bill providing for such a norm was submitted to the State Duma on January 19. The deputies also expect from the Government a new document on the expanded responsibility of producers, so that the polluter, and not the consumer, pays for what is left of non-ecological goods. The Parliamentary Gazette was trying to figure out how it is proposed to reform the system and whether it will affect the wallets of citizens.

Business must guarantee recycling

Since 2015, Russia has been operating a system of extended producer responsibility (EPR). This system provides for the disposal of companies of a certain volume of products that have lost their consumer properties. The volume of utilization is determined by the Government for each group of goods. For example, in 2021, businesses that make tires and tires are required to recycle ten percent of the same or similar waste, glass factories 25 percent, and plastic packaging manufacturers 30 percent. You can fulfill the standards in one of three ways: recycle waste at your own facilities, conclude an agreement with a waste management operator or another specialized company, or pay an environmental fee to the budget.

But for six years the system has not brought significant results, according to the Government and the State Duma. In 2019, only 15,175 manufacturers submitted a report on the implementation of recycling standards out of 160 thousand manufacturers and importers who had to do this. They recycle, according to the Accounting Chamber, only seven percent of the garbage, and 90 percent goes to landfills. The reason for this is the lack of administration, weak incentives for enterprises to use the "secondary" in production and the lack of effective targeted use of environmental collection funds, according to the concept of system development, which was approved by the Government on 28 December. This document launches a major reform of the EPR.

They want to take obligations from companies that they will be engaged in recycling, for example, in the form of a bank guarantee and a guarantee issued by a waste recycling plant. The recycling standards will gradually be raised - every year by no less than ten percent. There is a separate discussion of packaging. From 2022, the responsibility for its disposal should be one hundred percent. By February 15, the Cabinet of Ministers must approve a "road map" for the preparation of the necessary regulatory framework.

Basic law is indispensable

It is especially important to deal with the disposal of packaging - it makes up half of the volume of all solid municipal waste and its volume is growing, says Alexander Fokin, a member of the State Duma Committee on Ecology and Environmental Protection. On January 19, he submitted to the State Duma amendments to the Law "On Production and Consumption Waste", according to which each company will have to dispose of as much packaging as it sold or imported into Russia during the reporting year. Or - to pay an eco-tax for the entire volume of sold containers.

This is not the first time that the deputy has introduced a bill on extended producer responsibility. The new version takes into account the position of the Government, he explained to Parlamentskaya Gazeta. According to Fokin, this approach will increase the collection rate of the eco-harvest to 150-160 billion rubles a year. For comparison: in 2019, they raised 2.3 billion. “This will fill the empty wallets of waste collection and disposal operators. They practically have no money to implement these programs, ”he said.

Now the State Duma is waiting for the Government to introduce a comprehensive basic bill on extended producer responsibility, which will allow moving from words to deeds. The deputies expect that the principle “the polluter pays” will be enshrined in it, Vladimir Burmatov, chairman of the State Duma Committee on ecology and environmental protection, told Parlamentskaya Gazeta. This is exactly the order the President gave in his Address to the Federal Assembly in 2020. “It is necessary that the disposal and recycling of waste is paid not by consumers, but by manufacturers, as is done all over the world. And then the producers receive super profits, they are almost not responsible for anything, while their packaging is one of the main pollutants on the territory of Russia, ”said the deputy. It turns out that now the main financial burden falls on citizens who pay for garbage collection. “We have already bought products. Why do we still have to pay for somehow neutralizing what is left of it? This is already included in the cost, ”he said.

At the same time, transparent, effective and understandable mechanisms for the implementation of this principle should be spelled out in the bill, Burmatov says. When the document reaches the State Duma, lawmakers will hold parliamentary hearings to discuss it with experts and market participants. The MP has no doubts that the law will resonate. “It affects the commercial interests of very serious companies, and they are clearly not happy with these prospects. But we are fighting for the environment. Therefore, we will strive to ensure that the polluter pays principle is implemented, ”Burmatov said.

While the obligation to dispose of the packaging remains with the manufacturers of the goods who sell them in this container. But, judging by the Government's concept, in the future, the obligation to deal with recycling or pay eco-tax may also be prescribed for those who produce packaging, which is itself a final product, such as bags, foil or disposable cups.

The bill, which was developed by Alexander Fokin, may be the first step, but one cannot do without a basic law, says Dmitry Mironov, head of the Center for Public Monitoring of the All-Russian Popular Front on Environmental Issues. Environmentalists have been waiting for a comprehensive reform of the system for many years. “What is being done now does not lead to a decrease in waste generation, does not stimulate businesses to change their attitude towards packaging recycling and production of more environmentally friendly packaging,” the expert believes.

Will the goods become more expensive

Alexander Fokin noted that, according to expert estimates, with the introduction of the new EPR system, goods can rise in price by no more than one percent. But with the development of a separate waste collection system, this will be offset by a decrease in payments for the population for waste removal, he added.

Deputy Prime Minister Victoria Abramchenko spoke on this topic. She also believes that when the responsibility for the disposal of packaging is imposed on business, this will reduce tariffs for garbage collection for citizens, reports the Deputy Prime Minister of TASS. Now Russians pay about 190 billion rubles for waste management, and companies within the framework of eco-collection - 3 billion. Now it is "business time", Abramchenko stressed.

And according to Vladimir Burmatov, the statements that everything will rise in price because of the new EPR system are the tricks of those who do not want civilized waste management measures to come into force in Russia. He noted that in order to prevent collusion of manufacturers, raising prices for products and other abuses, the FAS and supervisory authorities will have to monitor.

Source: pnp.ru