S.L. 549.43 чл. 13Collection, treatment and disposal of packaging waste.

(1) The Regional Councils shall, with respect to the municipal packaging waste generated in their regions, use existing systems or set up new systems, in accordance with any existing laws and regulations, to provide for:

(a) regional door-to-door collection of municipal packaging waste and its transport to authorised waste management establishments or undertakings; and

(b) environmentally sound treatment of all collected municipal packaging waste according to the waste hierarchy laid down in regulation 4A of the Waste Regulations.

(2) An authorised packaging waste recovery organisation shall make the necessary arrangements with Local Councils for:

(a) provision and maintenance of recycling points for the separate collection, by categories, of municipal packaging waste generated according to the quota stipulated in regulation 10(2) of the Waste Regulations. For the purposes of recycling points referred to in this paragraph, separate collection shall not include co-mingled collection in accordance with the definition of co-mingled collection in regulation 4 of the Waste Regulation. An authorised packaging waste recovery organisation shall maintain such sites in a good and clean state at all times; and

(b) timely collection of the said municipal packaging waste and its transport to the authorised waste management establishments or undertakings engaged by the respective authorised packaging waste recovery organisation:

Provided that the municipal packaging waste separately collected in accordance with paragraph (a) that is recycled shall count towards the attainment of the relevant recycling targets by the Regional Councils. To this end, an authorised packaging waste recovery organisation shall furnish the respective Regional Council with the signed declaration referred to in regulation 15:

Provided further that in the case the authorised packaging waste recovery organisations fail to reach an agreement with particular Local Councils, the competent authority, in consultation with the EPR Consultative Committee, shall allocate those Local Councils without arrangements amongst authorised packaging waste recovery organisations on the basis of:

(a) their market share established by the Authority on the basis of the methodology laid down in Schedule 18 and

(b) the actual population of those Local Councils.

(3) Self-compliant producers or third parties acting on behalf of producers who place transport packaging and, or refillable gas cylinders on the market in Malta shall, with respect to used packaging and packaging waste arising from their activities, ensure that they use existing systems or set up new systems, individually or collectively, or both, in accordance with any existing laws and regulations, to provide for the:

(a) return and, or collection of used packaging and, or packaging waste from the consumer, other final user, or from the waste stream in order to channel it to the most appropriate waste management alternatives;

(b) environmentally sound reuse of reusable packaging;

(c) preparing for reuse or for recycling of the packaging waste collected, as necessary, as a minimum, for the achievement of the targets set out in Schedule 3.

(4) For the purposes of achieving the objectives of this regulation, producers or third parties acting on their behalf shall:

(a) carry out information campaigns, highlighting the importance of separate collection of packaging waste and ensure the correct treatment of packaging waste;

(b) provide adequate facilities at their premises or at other designated areas or premises, for the deposition of packaging by customers at no net cost to the latter, and for the reception, segregation and storage of packaging waste;

(c) ensure that the facilities referred to in paragraph

(b) are easily identifiable and accessible by customers;

(d) make the necessary arrangements for the packaging waste collected to be made available for preparing for reuse or for recycling.

(5) The Regional Councils, self-compliant producers or third parties acting on behalf of producers shall not dispose of collected packaging waste without first making it available for reuse or recovery including recycling.

(6) The systems referred to in sub-regulations (1) and (3) shall be open to the participation of the economic operators of the sectors concerned and to the participation of the competent public authorities. The said systems shall also apply to imported products under non-discriminatory conditions, including the detailed arrangements and any tariffs imposed for access to the systems, and shall be designed so as to avoid barriers to trade or distortion of competition in conformity with the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union.

(7) The measures referred to in sub-regulations (1), (3), (4),

(5) and (8) shall form part of a policy covering all packaging and packaging waste and shall take into account, in particular, requirements regarding the protection of the environment and consumer health, safety and hygiene, the protection of the quality, the authenticity and the technical characteristics of the packed goods and materials used, and the protection of industrial and commercial property rights.

(8) An authorised packaging waste recovery organisation shall finance any systems set up by the Regional Councils and endorsed by the competent authority for the door-to-door collection, the treatment, the recovery and the environmentally sound disposal of all municipal packaging waste generated, according to its market share:

Provided that an authorised packaging waste recovery organisation shall make the necessary arrangements with the Regional Councils, through written agreements, for the payment of its financial contributions towards the above-mentioned systems. The said payment shall be executed within the terms agreed to by the Regional Councils and the authorised packaging waste recovery organisations in the written agreements. Such terms shall be duly notified to the Authority within one (1) month following the conclusion of the said written agreements.

(9) Without prejudice to the Single-Use Plastic Framework

Regulations, the financial contributions referred to in sub-regulation

(8) shall as a minimum cover the costs established in sub-regulation (3)(a) of regulation 6 of the Extended Producer Responsibility Framework Regulations:

Provided that the financial contributions paid by an authorised packaging waste recovery organisation shall not exceed the costs that are necessary to provide waste management services in a cost-efficient way. Such costs shall be established in a transparent way between the Authority, the Regional Councils, the authorised packaging waste recovery organisations and any other actors concerned. Any revisions of the established costs shall be communicated with sufficient notice to allow producer responsibility organisations to adjust their operations to any revised costs:

Provided further that the said financial contributions shall in no case include any administrative penalty imposed by the Authority on a Regional Council in line with sub-regulation (19) of regulation 8.

(10) The market share referred to in sub-regulation (8) shall be established by the Authority on the basis of the methodology established in Schedule 18.

(11) The competent authority, in consultation with the EPR Consultative Committee, shall ensure that by 31st December of 2024 extended producer responsibility schemes are established for all packaging in accordance with the provisions of the Extended Producer Responsibility Framework Regulations.

(12) The Minister, in consultation with the competent authority and the Agency, shall take measures to promote high quality recycling of packaging waste and to meet the necessary quality standards for the relevant recycling sectors. For that purpose, regulation 10C(1) of the Waste Regulations shall apply to packaging waste, including for composite packaging.