Barely two weeks after the EU's Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR) became applicable, its treatment of smaller companies is already under political scrutiny. Roberta Metsola, president of the European Parliament, has described some of the burdens imposed on SMEs as \u201crigid and counterproductive\u201d and said Parliament would address the problem in the coming weeks.<\/p>\n
The criticism comes as companies are still working out how the regulation applies in practice. The PPWR became applicable across the EU on August 12, replacing much of the previous patchwork of national packaging rules with a common European framework.<\/p>\n
In the wood industry, the effects are clearest among manufacturers of pallets, crates and industrial and export packaging. Germany's HPE wood-packaging association says its members face new requirements covering producer responsibility, conformity assessments, technical documentation, recyclability, reuse and Extended Producer Responsibility.<\/p>\n
One of the more contentious questions is deceptively simple: who is the producer?<\/p>\n
HPE says wood-packaging companies are increasingly being asked by customers to assume that role. But making the packaging does not always settle the matter. Where a customer substantially determines the specifications and design of a wooden packaging product, HPE says the customer can qualify as the producer under the PPWR, leaving the packaging manufacturer as a supplier.<\/p>\n
The difference matters because the producer carries much of the responsibility for demonstrating that the packaging complies with the regulation.<\/p>\n
Brussels tries to draw the lines<\/strong><\/p>\n The European Commission sought to clarify some of these questions in an updated FAQ published on August 3.<\/p>\n For standard unbranded packaging, the company manufacturing the packaging will generally remain the manufacturer for PPWR purposes. Putting an ordinary shipping label on an unbranded carton does not count as branding and does not by itself transfer that role to the company sending the goods.<\/p>\n Stretch film has generated similar questions. The Commission considers film supplied on a roll for securing palletised goods to be packaging before it is wrapped around the load. The company using the film does not become its manufacturer merely by applying it to a pallet.<\/p>\n Brussels has also exempted pallet wrapping and straps from the PPWR's 100% reuse requirement for certain transport operations. A Commission study found that forcing companies to use exclusively reusable systems in these cases could impose disproportionate adaptation costs.<\/p>\n For wooden-packaging companies, however, the administrative work remains substantial. HPE has produced a guide containing more than 40 practical cases to help companies establish whether they are acting as manufacturer, producer, supplier, importer or distributor.<\/p>\n The association says the new bureaucracy is already absorbing highly qualified staff at smaller wood-packaging companies who would otherwise be working on their core operations.<\/p>\n A test for the PPWR<\/strong><\/p>\n Metsola's intervention does not change the law. The PPWR remains applicable and companies must comply with it.<\/p>\n But it exposes an awkward problem for Brussels. One purpose of replacing national packaging rules with an EU-wide regime was to make the single market easier to navigate and reduce compliance costs. For some SMEs, the first weeks of implementation have instead brought more paperwork and uncertainty over who is responsible for what.<\/p>\n The wood-packaging industry is a good example. The problem is not opposition to recycling, reuse or common European standards. It is whether a small pallet or export-packaging producer should carry obligations that, depending on how the product was specified and sold, may properly belong elsewhere in the supply chain.<\/p>\n For now, HPE is advising companies to establish their role transaction by transaction rather than automatically accepting producer responsibility when customers ask them to do so. Metsola's comments suggest that Brussels may eventually make life easier for smaller companies. Until it does, the paperwork stays.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Barely two weeks after the EU’s Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR) became applicable, its treatment of smaller companies is already under political scrutiny. Roberta Metsola, president of the European Parliament, has described some of the burdens imposed on SMEs … Continue reading