The Packaging (Essential Requirements) Regulations 2015

ESSENTIAL REQUIREMENTS ON THE COMPOSITION AND THE REUSABLE AND RECOVERABLE, INCLUDING RECYCLABLE, NATURE OF PACKAGING

Requirements specific to the manufacturing and composition of packaging

1.—(1) Packaging must be so manufactured that the packaging volume and weight is limited to the minimum adequate amount to maintain the necessary level of safety, hygiene and acceptance for the packed product and for the consumer.

(2) Packaging must be designed, produced and commercialised in such a way as to permit its reuse or recovery, including recycling, and to minimise its impact on the environment when packaging waste or residues from packaging waste management operations are disposed of.

(3) Packaging must be so manufactured that the presence of noxious and other hazardous substances and materials as constituents of the packaging material or of any of the packaging components is minimised with regard to their presence in emissions, ash or leachate when packaging or residues from management operations or packaging waste are incinerated or landfilled.

Requirements specific to reusable packaging

2.—(1) The following requirements must be simultaneously satisfied—

(a) the physical properties and characteristics of the packaging must enable a number of trips or rotations in normally predictable conditions of use,

(b) it must be possible to process the used packaging in order to meet health and safety requirements for the workforce,

(c) the requirements specific to recoverable packaging must be fulfilled when the packaging is no longer reused and thus becomes waste.

Requirements specific to the recoverable nature of packaging

Packaging recoverable in the form of material recycling

3.—(1) Packaging must be manufactured in such a way as to enable the recycling of a certain percentage by weight of the materials used into the manufacture of marketable products, in compliance with current standards in the European Union. The establishment of this percentage may vary, depending on the type of material of which the packaging is composed.

Packaging recoverable in the form of energy recovery

(2) Packaging waste processed for the purpose of energy recovery must have a minimum inferior calorific value to allow optimisation of energy recovery.

Packaging recoverable in the form of composting

(3) Packaging waste processed for the purpose of composting must be of such a biodegradable nature that it should not hinder the separate collection and the composting process or activity into which it is introduced.

Biodegradable packaging

(4) Biodegradable packaging waste must be of such a nature that it is capable of undergoing physical, chemical, thermal or biological decomposition such that most of the finished compost ultimately decomposes into carbon dioxide, biomass and water.