Approved the Royal Decree on Packaging with new obligations for companies that put industrial and commercial packaging on the market

2022-12-29

After several months of processing, the Council of Ministers has approved Royal Decree 1055/2022 of December 27 on Packaging and Packaging Waste, which transposes the Packaging Directive and includes major changes and new obligations regarding the regulations in force so far.

Envalora, the new multimaterial Extended Producer Responsibility (SCRAP) Collective System,

helps companies to comply with the new legal obligations, in a collective and efficient way.

Among the new measures adopted, the one of the Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) for industrial and commercial packaging stands out. A very important new obligation due to its wide scope, since it affects all companies that use industrial and commercial packaging to transport and sell products to their customers in Spain.

The entry into force of the Royal Decree represents a radical change in the current model of packaging waste management in companies. Until now, it was the end customers who were in charge of financing and managing the packaging waste of the goods they received. With the entry into force of the new Royal Decree on packaging and packaging waste, that responsibility passes to all packaging and importing companies, Spanish or foreign, that use industrial and commercial packaging to transport and sell their goods in the Spanish market.

Companies will have to take care of the packaging waste of industrial and commercial type that ends up at the facilities of their final customer, with the consequent cost and with important new organizational needs for companies. In addition to other obligations before the public administrations such as its registration in the Packaging Registry of the Ministry of Ecological Transition, the provision of data on putting on the packaging market, compliance with recycling and reuse objectives, etc.

Envalora, new multimaterial Collective System as a solution for companies

With the aim of providing a collective and therefore more efficient solution for companies, Envalora was born, the new project of the Collective System of Extended Producer Responsibility (SCRAP), for industrial and commercial packaging in the chemical, plastics, rubber and construction sectors, and also in other sectors such as the metal sector, graphic arts, automotive components, and others who want to join Envalora.

Envalora is a multi-material SCRAP project, promoted by Cicloplast, Feique and Anaip and with the support of more than 20 sectoral and territorial entities and 220 companies. It will be an integral solution for all types of industrial and commercial packaging, whether single-use or reusable or made of any material (paper cardboard, metal, plastic, wood, etc.), since it is oriented to circularity and efficiency in the management of these packaging waste.

Envalora is a solid and professional project that more and more companies are joining, and that has the participation of the company HEURA, an environmental consultant specialized in the management of collective industrial packaging recycling systems, as well as the collaboration of RIGK, the industrial packaging SCRAP in Germany, both entities with more than 20 years of experience.

Isabel Goyena, coordinator of the project, indicates “once the new Royal Decree has already been approved, the deadlines for compliance with the new LEGAL obligation are very short. The new Collective Systems will have to be operational before December 31, 2024, but before December 31, 2023, the systems will have to submit the authorization request to the public administrations, and that authorization must already include the producing companies attached to the system. Therefore, companies that already join Envalora will ensure that they belong to the system and comply with the legislation.”

There is no time to waste, therefore, there are already more than 220 companies, both large multinationals, as well as small and medium-sized, which have already joined Envalora considering it as the best option to comply with the new LEGAL obligation. By joining Envalora, companies delegate to SCRAP a large part of their obligations by fulfilling collectively and, in addition, they receive technical and legal advice to comply with the obligations set by the regulations. The objective of the project is to help companies by being a project promoted by the industry itself proactively.

Companies that are already in Envalora have the opportunity to participate in the development of the operation and the different management models that the system will have, thus ensuring that their packaging in the future will be managed in the most efficient way possible.

Companies that want to join Envalora in 2023 will also find facilities for financing the economic contribution they have to make by joining the project.