The Producer Responsibility Obligations (Packaging Waste) (Amendment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2004

Explanatory Note

(This note is not part of the Regulations.)

These Regulations amend the Producer Responsibility Obligations (Packaging Waste) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1999 (“the principal Regulations”).

Regulation 3 makes amendments to regulation 2 of the principal Regulations by way of inserting a number of new definitions and amending others.

Regulation 4 introduces a new obligation of operators of schemes to take reasonable steps to discharge the recovery and recycling obligations which the members of the schemes would have had but for their membership of the schemes.

Regulation 5 makes a number of amendments to Part III of the principal Regulations concerning registration, including in particular –

(a) a requirement for forms of application for registration to be signed by an approved person;

(b) provision for the Department to include additional information requirements within the application form;

(c) requirements for producers above certain turnover and tonnage thresholds and for operators of schemes to comply with the operational plans they are required to have submitted;

(d) alignment of the conditions of registration applying to producers and operators of schemes;

(e) a change in the date by which revised operational plans are to be submitted to 31st January in each year;

(f) the introduction of new charges are as follows –

(i) for each subsidiary within a group of companies:

• – £100 for each of the first 4 subsidiaries;

• – £50 for the 5th and subsequent subsidiaries.

  (ii)

  for late registration of scheme applications £110 and for those producers or scheme applications requiring data correction and resubmission, £220 per registration for each occurrence;

  (g)

  a requirement on operators of schemes to submit monitoring plans relating to the steps they propose to take to ensure the accuracy of the information they receive from scheme members;

  (h)

  new procedural requirements for obtaining the approval of the Department to a scheme;

  (i)

  requirements relating to the submission of information by scheme members to operators of schemes.

Regulation 6 introduces rights of appeal for producers and for reprocessors and exporters.

Regulation 7 inserts a new Part IVA into the principal Regulations in order to require the accreditation of reprocessors and exporters to issue packaging waste recovery notes and packaging waste export recovery notes.

Regulation 8 amends Part V of the principal Regulations in order to require additional records and returns to be submitted to the Department by producers and operators of schemes.

Regulation 9 amends Part VI of the principal Regulations in order to ensure that the monitoring obligations which apply to the Department include monitoring the new obligations placed on operators of schemes and accredited reprocessors and exporters; and to increase the scope of the Department’s power to serve notices on persons requiring the submission of information to the Department.

Regulation 10 amends Part X of the principal Regulations in order to introduce new offences for which operators of schemes, scheme members, reprocessors and exporters may be liable.

Regulation 11 makes minor consequential amendments to Schedule 1 of the principal Regulations.

Regulation 12 amends Schedule 2 of the principal Regulations in order to apply new recovery and recycling targets reflecting the anticipated revisions to the Directive targets.

Regulation 13 inserts a new Schedule 2A into the principal Regulations setting out the conditions of accreditation referred to in the new regulation 21C inserted by regulation 6 of these Regulations.

Regulation 14 amends the list of recovery operations set out in Schedule 3 of the principal Regulations in order to reflect amendments made by the Commission Decision 96/350/EEC (O.J. No. L135, 6.6.1996, p. 32).

Regulation 15 amends Schedule 4 of the principal Regulations in order to amplify the information required to be contained in the operational plans which producers and operators of schemes are required to submit to the Department.

Regulation 16 amends Schedule 5 of the principal Regulations in order to make provision for producer, reprocessor and exporter appeals and to reduce the period in which appeals may be made from six months to two months.

Regulation 17 amends Schedule 6 of the principal Regulations in order to amplify the information which must be contained in the certificate of compliance required by regulation 23 of the principal Regulations.

Regulation 18 amends Schedule 7 of the principal Regulations in order to require information in relation to accredited reprocessors and exporters to be placed on the public register.

Regulation 19 amends Schedule 10 of the principal Regulations in order to simplify the arrangements for mid-year changes affecting groups of companies who have obligations under the Regulations.

Regulation 20 removes Schedule 11 which sets out the recovery and recycling obligations of the United Kingdom under the Directive.