Pay eco-tax and wait calmly

The government chose an imputed payment for packaging waste instead of recycling it by businesses

A year and a half of discussions by the government and business on improving the institution of extended liability of manufacturers and importers for waste of goods and packaging (EPR) has led to the fact that already from 2022 companies will have to recycle them by 100%. Since this is impossible, “improving the institute” actually boiled down to compulsory payments by companies for ecological collection. It is not yet clear who and how from the state will be responsible for 100% utilization, but the government promises full digitalization and transparency of the system, which will reduce payments for the population.

The final discussion by business and officials of the draft concept for improving the ROP institute on December 21, under the leadership of the industry vice-premier Victoria Abramchenko, led to an unexpected turn and overshadowed all the issues that business had previously raised about the document (see Kommersant, December 14). From 2022, for packaging, the share of which in household waste is 30-50%, a requirement for one hundred percent recycling is introduced. Companies will be able to fulfill EPR from 2022 only by concluding a direct agreement with a utilizer, recycling waste at their facilities or paying an eco-fee.

Director of the Association "Industry for Ecology" (RusPEK, includes corporations responsible for the production of most of the goods in packaging - PepsiCo, Coca Cola, Nestle, Tetra Pak, etc.) Lyubov Melanevskaya, noting that this is technically impossible, predicts: “Either business will go to the legal, statutory purchase of recycling acts, or to pay the eco-tax, while trying to prevent an increase in its rate. "

However, according to Kommersant's information, at the final meeting, none of the business representatives volunteered for Ms Abramchenko's request to present arguments against the 100% standard.

They repeat that over the four years of the EPR's existence in the industry, there have been no changes for the better (the Ministry of Natural Resources previously admitted that it was precisely its sluggishness in creating by-laws and transparent rules of the game that had slowed down the launch of the mechanism all this time), and the companies could not prove the effectiveness its waste management activities. The mechanism was not saved and the offer of business to make the eco-collection rate less profitable than the independent implementation of EPR.

“The population actually fully pays for waste disposal, enterprises are not interested in using more environmentally friendly materials. Therefore, the state determines new rules that will stimulate waste disposal, ”said Victoria Abramchenko. It should be noted that the government only intends to determine these rules of the game - together with the concept formalized by a government decree or order, a list of bills and by-laws will be determined by December 31.

It is planned to eliminate the “gray areas that allowed avoiding responsibility for disposal” by digitizing the entire industry, including accounting for the flow of goods and packaging, their sales, collection, transportation and disposal. “It (the information system - Kommersant) will implement the principle of cross-reporting with the introduction of a register of utilizers, fixing the volume of packaging and goods put on the market,” predicts Ms. Abramchenko.

At the same time, the office of the Deputy Prime Minister assures Kommersant that the traceability system will start working in 2022.

“The most important thing for us here is that the payment for the disposal of packaging is not included in the tariff for the population and that the price of goods on the shelf does not rise. This is what the President of the country spoke about during a press conference on December 17. The business must pay for the recycling of packaging, ”added the head of the Ministry of Natural Resources Alexander Kozlov. “The population pays over 190 billion rubles to regional operators. per year, and business - a little more than 3 billion rubles. ”, - complains the general director of PPK REO Denis Butsaev. And although now the business will also have to pay, the government could not explain who and how guarantees this 100% paid waste disposal.

There are also no guarantees that tariffs for the population will decrease. The government believes that with the advent of digital transparency and payment by the state for the services of utilizers and infrastructure, the volume of waste generation and removal will decrease, which will also reduce payments by citizens. But utilization is not included in the tariff for the population. “In any case, the tariff will grow - directly or indirectly, since after 2022,“ golden ”waste incineration with the production of“ golden ”electricity will start operating,” predicts Boris Morgunov, director of the HSE Institute of Ecology.

Source: https://www.kommersant.ru/