Filenews 15 July 2021 - by Angelos Nikolaou
Guaranteed recycling machines for separate collection of plastic, glass and metal packaging waste will be placed in various places in Cyprus so that citizens receive a monetary price as part of actions to reduce the consumption of disposable products. It is essentially an automatic machine that accepts sponsorship packaging waste such as water bottles, soft drinks and beers and reimburses the sponsorship fee.
As of today, and for two months, the Department of the Environment is putting to public consultation a draft of the Packaging and Waste Packaging (Guarantee System) Regulations. The preliminary draft Regulations provide for the establishment of a guarantee system for disposable primary beverage packaging, under which a monetary price will be paid by the purchaser at the time of the return of the guarantee package waste for the purpose of its separate collection and recycling.
The Regulations lay down the detailed provisions for the operation of the system, the obligations of producers and importers, traffickers who place these products on the market and catering services and the framework for the payment and reimbursement of the guarantee fee and the establishment of return points for packaging.
The return of guarantee packaging waste shall be effected at the return points of guarantee packaging waste either by the use of guarantee recycling machines, with the possibility of returning the guarantee packaging waste around the clock in the case of guarantee recycling machines installed outdoors, or during the opening hours of such premises in case the machines are installed within the premises or manual with the possibility of returning the waste of guarantee packages during the opening hours of the premises of the guarantor packages traffickers.
In supermarket premises of more than 200 m2 the return of sponsorship packaging waste will be made using automatic guarantee recycling machines.
Sponsorship packages include specific categories of products as defined in the Combined Nomenclature (CN) of the Customs Cooperation Council's 'Harmonised Commodity Description and Coding System'.
In particular, they include water, soft drinks, malt beer, other fermented beverages (e.g. cider,lager, sake), as well as spirits, liqueurs and other alcoholic beverages with an alcoholic strength by volume of less than or equal to 9% vol.
For sponsorship packages with a capacity of up to 3 litres, excluding water sponsorship packages made of pet plastic with a capacity of up to 0,5 litres, the fee is 10 cents, while for water sponsorship packages made of PET plastic with a capacity of up to 0,5 litres the fee is 5 cents.
The Minister shall establish, through the terms of the authorisation of the system granted, minimum targets for separate collection and recycling, including preparation for reuse and other recovery, depending on the type of sponsorship packages that the members of the system place on the market.
These objectives may amount to (a) As regards the preparation for reuse and recycling, up to 80% of the weight of the total waste of sponsorship packages which the participants in the System place on the market and (b) As regards the separate collection for recycling, up to 90% of the weight of plastic beverage bottles with a capacity of up to three litres which the participants in the System place on the market.
