Packaging (Essential Requirements) Regulations 2015
The Packaging (Essential Requirements) Regulations 2015 (SI 2015/1640) consolidate and revoke all earlier Packaging Regulations. They implement those provisions of the Packaging and Packaging Waste Directive (94/62/EC) that relate to the essential requirements for packaging. The Regulations also implement relevant provisions of EU instruments amending the 2004 Packaging Directive[1].
Main Requirements[1]
The main requirement of the Packaging (Essential Requirements) Regulations 2015 relates to those who are responsible for packing or filling products into packaging or importing packed or filled packaging into the United Kingdom, may not place that packaging on the market unless it fulfils the essential requirements and is within the heavy metal concentration limits. The Regulations do not apply to packaging that is packed or filled for export outside the EU.
Placing on the market[1]
"Placing on the market" is not defined in the Regulations, but is generally taken to refer to when a product is made available for the first time. This is considered to take place when the assembled (i.e. packed/filled) packaging is first transferred from the stage of manufacture with the intention of sale, distribution or use on the European market. The concept of placing on the market refers to each individual product, not to a type of product, and regardless of whether or not it was manufactured as an individual unit or in series.
Reuse of Packaging[1]
The reuse of packaging, for the same purpose for which it was intended is not considered to be a further placing on the market. Therefore such reused packaging already in circulation is not covered by these Regulations. Reusable packaging must fulfil the essential requirements and other requirements in the Regulations when it is first made available, i.e. placed, on the market. Where packaging has been reconditioned, remanufactured, repainted or altered for a different use it will be considered “new” packaging and would need to meet the requirements of the Regulations when placed on the market. For example, this could apply to either reusable steel drums which transport chemicals or to refillable soft drink bottles.
Obligation[1]
The responsible person is obliged to ensure that all packaging covered by the Regulations complies with the essential requirements and heavy metal limits, in addition to the other provisions of the Regulations. The responsible person is usually the packer/ filler or importer of packed or filled packaging. In circumstances where the packaged product is marked with a brand or trade mark or other distinctive mark, the person so identified would normally be considered the packer/filler. It follows that, for an own-label product where the brand owner is not the packer/filler, the obligation to demonstrate compliance would normally be considered to fall upon the brand owner rather than the packer/filler.
Essential Requirements[1]
The essential requirements are, in summary:
- Packaging volume and weight must be the minimum amount to maintain the necessary levels of safety, hygiene and acceptance for the packed product and for the consumer.
- Packaging must be manufactured so as to permit reuse or recovery in accordance with specific requirements.
- Noxious or hazardous substances in packaging must be minimised in emissions, ash or leachate from incineration or landfill.
Heavy Metal Limits[1]
The aggregate heavy metal limits apply to cadmium, mercury, lead and hexavalent chromium in packaging or packaging components and require that the total by weight of such metals should not exceed 100 ppm (subject to some exemptions).
A packaging component is defined as any part of the packaging that can be separated by hand or by using simple physical means - for example a bottle top. This does not include permanent coatings or pigments, which would be regarded as a constituent of the packaging (or of the packaging component) and would thus be part of any calculation, but not required to meet the heavy metal limits independently. For example, a steel drum coated in lead chromate based paint would only exceed the limit if the lead chromate was greater than the limit in relation to the mass of the drum and the paint taken together[1].
The heavy metal limits do not apply to packaging which consists entirely of lead crystal glass.
There are two specific derogations from the heavy metals limits detailed in the Regulations[1]:
- A derogation for plastic pallets and crates provided they fulfil a number of conditions and are in a controlled distribution and reuse system as detailedin the Regulations.
- A derogation for glass packaging if it fulfils a number of conditions as detailed in the Regulations.
Enforcement[1]
It is the statutory duty of the following organisations to enforce the Regulations within their area:
- In England and Wales, weights and measures authorities (the trading standards departments of local authorities);
- In Northern Ireland, the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Investment;
- In Scotland, weights and measures authorities (the trading standards departments of local authorities); prosecutions against infringement of the Regulations are brought by the Procurator Fiscal.