PACKAGING WASTE COMPLIANCE sharing responsibility
a world leader in waste management Present in the UK since 1990, Veolia Environmental Services is one of the United Kingdom's leading waste management providers. Renowned for our integrated waste management and environmental services to local communities and industry, we provide a range of innovative solutions and services including refuse collection, recycling and waste treatment to over 65,000 customers. Veolia Environmental Services is part of Veolia Environnement, a world leader in environmental services. Through our specialist compliance scheme we can offer expert advice, proven expertise and a guaranteed, cost effective service which gives complete peace of mind. Taking away the worry For more and more companies, packaging and the waste it produces are becoming ever more important issues, as European directives and UK regulations place greater emphasis on the disposal of materials through increased use of recycling and recovery. As a specialist in waste management, Veolia Environmental Services offers a market leading specialist compliance scheme to customers operating under UK packaging regulations. Taking on the obligations imposed by this legislation on behalf of member companies, we deal with all the issues raised in a commercially and environmentally responsible manner, so you can get on with your business. 42 PACKAGING WASTE THE COMPLIANCE SCHEME 3
PACKAGING R EGULATIONS LE GAL OBLIGATIONS PEACE OF MI ND RECYCLING R ECOVERY COMPLIANCE CARDBOARD CANS GLASS BOTTLES PAPER ENVI RONM ENT PLASTIC METAL helping you meet recycling and recovery targets Packaging performs an essential role in a modern economy, but once it has done its job of delivering products safely and efficiently to the end user, it s often discarded. Every year UK businesses use more than 10 million tonnes of packaging for their products, and little more than a third of it is recycled or recovered. This has to change. To meet EU directive targets, the UK was required to recover 50% and recycle 25% of its packaging waste by 2001, and new targets scheduled for 2008 will increase these figures to 60% and 55% respectively. UK packaging regulations place the responsibility for achieving these targets firmly on individual businesses in the packaging chain. Companies faced with meeting UK targets have two choices. They can try to meet the targets themselves, or join a compliance scheme like ours and hand over their legal obligations to us. We not only deal with regulatory issues on your behalf, but also give you direct access to a wealth of recycling and recovery capacity and a comprehensive range of waste management services and facilities, including state-of-the-art energy-from-waste plants and recycling centres. Guaranteeing your company s compliance safely, efficiently and affordably. Membership Our tiered membership scheme gives total peace of mind, transferring the responsibility for packaging waste compliance over to Veolia Environmental Services. You also obtain unrivalled expertise in waste management, advice, guidance and access to the full recycling and recovery capacity of the Group. Silver Membership gives you: Access to the members section of the Veolia Environmental Services website Packaging legislation updates Dedicated telephone contact Technical packaging expertise CBI input and views Bi-weekly newsletter via email The UK Packaging Regulations Gold Membership, all the Silver benefits plus: Six-monthly/quarterly review meetings Executive seminars On site packaging surveys Pre-audit inspection Access to consultancy Full, one day packaging audit with report and recommendations The Producer Responsibility Obligations (Packaging Waste) Regulations 1997 (as amended) set recycling and recovery targets for packaging waste, which are intended to enable the UK to meet EU directive targets scheduled for 2008. For these purposes recycling means reprocessing waste material back into the original or new products. Recovery includes recycling, but also energy recovery. The regulations affect all businesses in the packaging chain that have an annual turnover in excess of 2million and handle more than 50 tonnes of packaging per annum. 4 PACKAGING WASTE THE COMPLIANCE SCHEME 5
understanding your obligations Compliance with the UK Packaging Regulations is a serious responsibility. Failure to comply can result in criminal prosecution, and many companies have already been successfully prosecuted. The regulations impose three main obligations: To register, pay a fee and provide data on weights and types of packaging supplied or imported. To recycle and recover a specific tonnage of packaging waste, calculated using the data collected. To certify that the required amounts of packaging waste have been recycled and recovered in the relevant year. Each obligated business must take responsibility for achieving part of the UK s recycling and recovery targets each year - the specific amount calculated according to the business s packaging activities (e.g. raw material manufacturing, converting, packing/filling, selling, importing etc.) and the UK targets for that year.* We believe a viable alternative is to use a scheme such as ours. As a registered compliance scheme under the regulations, we will simply take over the legal responsibility of meeting your recycling and recovery obligations. All you have to do is join. We will register you with the relevant agency and can provide expert advice on the calculation of recovery targets and data collection. We will gather evidence of recycling and recovery from packaging waste collected and reprocessed by Veolia Environmental Services Group companies and/or other accredited reprocessors. We will certify with the relevant agency that your company has complied with the regulations as stipulated. Veolia Environmental Services can provide all the services and facilities you need. Our compliance scheme does the rest. So you can be sure of complying with confidence. *For further information contact DEFRA, the Environment Agency, or the Environment and Heritage Service (Northern Ireland). 6
Veolia Environmental Services (UK) Plc Veolia House, 154A Pentonville Road London N1 9PE Tel: +44 (0)20 7812 5000 Fax: +44 (0)20 7812 5001 info@veolia.co.uk www.veolia.co.uk Veolia Environmental Services Plc 2006 Printed on paper that is 50% recycled, 50% sourced from sustainable forests and totally chlorine free.