From the Ministry of Environment and Forestry (Official Gazette of 30 July 2004 and No 25538)
REGULATION ON
PACKAGING AND PACKAGING WASTE CONTROL
PART ONE
PURPOSE, SCOPE, LEGAL BASIS, DEFINITIONS, GENERAL PRINCIPLES
Purpose
Article 1- The purpose of this Regulation is;
a)To provide production of packages with certain environmental criteria, requirements and characteristics,
b)To prevent direct and indirect release of package wastes causing environmental damage,
c)First of all to prevent formation of package wastes and to reduce the amount of those, which cannot be prevented, by means of reuse, recycling and recovery methods,
d)To establish necessary technical and administrative standards in the management of package wastes and to determine principles, policies and programs and legal, administrative and technical basis in this regard.
Scope
Article 2- This regulation includes all the packages and package wastes offered in the domestic market regardless of the materials used (plastic, metal, glass, paper-cardboard, composite etc.) and the resource of the waste (domestic, commercial, industrial and all kinds of offices).
Legal Basis
Article 3- This regulation is prepared in accordance with the articles 1, 3, 8, 11 and 12 of the Law on Environment numbered 2872, and the articles 1, 2 and 9 of the Law on the Organization and Duties of the Ministry of Environment and Forestry numbered 4856.
Definitions
Article 4- The following terms in this Regulation shall bear the meanings given below.
The Ministry: Ministry of Environment and Forestry.
Package: All the products made of any material used for the transport, preserving, storing and marketing of all kinds of products, during the process when the product is offered to the consumer or user.
Sales Package (Primary Package): The package, which is presented at the sales point so as to offer any product to the end user and which is defined as a sales unit and which is purchased together with the product.
Outer Package (Secondary Package): Packages, which are designed to hold more than one sales package together and which do not cause any change in any characteristic of the product when removed.
Transport Package (Third Package): Packages, which are used with the aim to prevent damage of the sales or outer package during transport and storage processes, to facilitate handling during the transport of the product from the producer to the seller and to carry out storage (Transport Packages do not include containers used in land, railway, marine and airway transportation)
Composite: Packages, which are made of different materials, which cannot be separated into its components manually.
Package waste: Wastes that stem from the use of sales, outer and transport packages of the marketed products and that have an economic value and that should be collected, reused, recycled and recovered in accordance with the purpose of this regulation.
Management of Package Wastes: All the processes such as; separate collection of package wastes at source within a particular system, transport, , reuse, recycling, recovery, disposal etc. of package wastes.
Management Plan of Package Wastes: A detailed action plan defining the works to be carried out in order to ensure performance of the activities within the scope of the management of package wastes in accordance with the environment, including the persons and methods to be used in these works.
Prevention: Beginning from the package design process to the production, marketing, distribution, use, becoming waste and disposal processes; reduction of the damage caused to the environment in terms of quantity and quality by using clean products and technologies.
Reuse: Refill of the package without exposing to any process other than collection and cleaning until it is impossible to reuse it within its own lifetime or use of the package for the same purpose within the same form until its lifetime is over.
Recycling: Reprocess of package wastes within a production process for its original purpose or another (including organic recycling, but excluding energy recovery).
Recovery: Recycling, burning in order to gain energy and reuse of package wastes by means of physical, chemical and biological methods, including reuse and recycling.
Material Recovery: Recovery of package wastes into economy (as raw materials) by means of just physical processes without resorting to any chemical or biological processes.
Energy Recovery: Use of combustible package wastes in energy generation by means of burning either single or together with other wastes with the aim to provide heat recovery.
Organic Recycling: Controlled decomposition of biologically decomposable parts of package wastes in an environment with or without oxygen by means of microorganisms so as to provide compost or methane gas.
Recovery Facility: Facilities such as; collection-sorting, reuse, recycling, recovery, compost, burning etc., which are established with the aim to reduce the environmental damage or to benefit from these wastes.
Collection and sorting: Collection of the package wastes and sorting thereof according to their types.
Collection-sorting Facility: Facilities, in which package wastes are collected together and sorted according to their types.
Recycling Facility: Facilities established in order to carry out recycling processes of package wastes.
Pre-license: The document declaring conformity of the projects of facilities to be established by real or legal entities that wish to carry out activities so as to collect, sort or recycle package wastes with the environment and human health.
Temporary working permit: The certificate showing the duration of activity of the facilities with pre-license under the supervision of the Ministry so as to certify that the facilities in question are operated in accordance with this Regulation.
License: The document certifying that the collection-sorting and recycling facilities, which are granted with temporary working permits, have sufficient experts and technical equipment and they have taken all kinds of measures with regard to the environment and human health.
Disposal: Processes of separate collection of package wastes at source, reuse, recycling and recovery of package wastes and turning them into harmless wastes.
Economic Enterprises: Producers and marketers of the packages.
Target: The ratio of the weight amount of packages, which are required to be recovered within the scope of the regulation, to the amount of packages marketed.
Package Producer: The producers of the packaging materials and the packages, and the suppliers of the packaging materials to the marketers or the importers of such packaging materials or packages.
Marketers: Real or legal entities that produce and develop products to be offered to the market by filling and/or packing in the packages mentioned in this regulation, that introduce themselves as the producer by giving the name, trademark or sign to the product; or the representative and/or importer authorized by the producer, in the event that the producer is out of Turkey.
Offering to the Market: Activity carried out so as to put the packaged product in the market with or without charge with the aim of procurement or use.
Authorized Institution: Non-profit institutions authorized by the Ministry to achieve the recovery targets stated in this regulation on behalf of the economic enterprises.
Sales Point: Sales locations such as; stores, markets, supermarkets, hypermarkets etc. possessing a closed area of more than two hundred m2 where packaged products are sold at whole sales and/or retail sales.
Recoverable Package Symbol: The symbol composing of three circular arrows following each other (Annex – 3)
Package Producer Application Form: The Form to be used by the package producers in the applications for the Ministry. (Annex –4 )
Marketer Application Form: The Form to be used by the marketers in the applications for the Ministry. (Annex – 5)
Package Commission: The commission that is formed to assess the practices of package waste recovery and that is chaired by the Ministry.
General Principles
Articles 5- Principles regarding the management of package wastes are as follows;
a)Beginning from the package design process to the production, marketing, distribution, use, becoming waste and disposal processes; the harm given to the environment should be reduced in terms of quantity and quality by using clean products and technologies.
b)Package producers are responsible for the production of the packaging materials in compliance with reuse, recycling and recovery and for the production of said materials in line with the limit values of the heavy metals stipulated in the Article 14 and with the basic conditions stated in Annex-1.
c)The packages must be labeled by the producers during production process and by the marketers during packaging process.
d)Packages available for use is preferred to control the one way package use and the wastes thereof.
e)Direct or indirect release of package wastes causing environmental damage and their disposal by storing in landfill sites are prohibited.
f)Persons, institutions/organizations responsible for the management of package wastes, have the liability to take necessary precautions in order to reduce the possible harmful effects of these wastes on the environment and human health.
g)Package wastes should be minimized at source; in case of inevitable production of waste, first of all reuse, recycling and recovery should be provided.
h)The consumers are responsible for the accumulation of packaging wastes at source separate from the other wastes and for the preparation of the said wastes for collection.
i)Package wastes should be collected separately at source in order to establish a healthy recovery system.
j)Marketers marketing their products in packages are liable to ensure recycling and recovery of package wastes stemming from the use of their products and to meet the costs to this aim.
k)Package producers/marketers are responsible for the environmental pollution and deterioration caused by package wastes. .
l) Expenditures made for the reduction of all kinds of environmental damages stemming from the management of package wastes should be born to the real and legal entities responsible for the management of these wastes.
PART TWO
DUTIES, AUTHORITIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES
Duties and Authorities of the Ministry
Article 6- The Ministry has the following responsibilities;
a)To determine the program and policies with regard to the collection, reuse, recycling, recovery and disposal of package wastes; to ensure cooperation and coordination as regards the implementation of this Regulation; to take administrative precautions; to issue notifications, if necessary; to carry out necessary audits
b)To determine recycling/recovery targets of package wastes in general and material terms
c)To define the principles as regards the authorization of institutions/organizations that will carry out the collection, reuse, recycling and recovery activities on behalf of the economic enterprises, which are held responsible in this regulation; to evaluate the applications to be made in this regard and to authorize if deemed appropriate; to audit the authorized institutions, to ensure application of necessary sanction in case of contradictions with the relevant regulations and to terminate the authorization, if necessary
d)To grant pre-licenses, temporary working permits and licenses and to renew the license to the recovery facilities; to audit their activities; to ensure application of necessary sanction in case of contradictions with the relevant regulations and if necessary, to terminate the pre-license, temporary working permit and license
e)To assign code numbers to be written on the packages marketed
f)To call the package commission to meet when necessary, to chair the commission and to carry out the secretariat procedures
g)To inspect documents to be submitted to the Ministry by the enterprises, which are responsible to do so within the scope of this regulation
h)To encourage the use of recycled products
Measures to be taken by the Civil Administration
Article7- The senior civil administration of the location shall take the below mentioned necessary measures
a)To ensure coordination among the municipalities, economic enterprises or authorized institutions for the separate collection of the packaging wastes at source.
b)To inform the Ministry on the recovery facilities and economic enterprises, which carry out activities in the province
c)To monitor and audit the activities of the recovery facilities, which are granted with temporary working permit or license; to ensure application of necessary sanction in case of contradictions with the relevant regulations
d)To send the applications related to the recovery facilities to be established to the Ministry.
e)To encourage the use of recovered products together with the economic enterprises or authorized institutions
Measures to be taken by the Civil Administrations
Article 8- The Civil Administrations shall take the below given necessary measures ;
a)Special Provincial Administrations
1)To approve package wastes management plan to be prepared by the economic enterprises or the authorized institutions for the separate collection of the package wastes outside the Municipal and …….borders.
2)To take the necessary measures related to the recovery facilities granted temporary work permit or license by the Ministry.
b) Municipalities1) To prepare/to have some other party prepare the management plan of package wastes together with the economic enterprises or authorized institutions, and to approve the plans to be prepared. 2) To collect the package wastes or to have the package wastes collected separately at source together with the economic enterprises or authorized institutions.
3) To support the activities to be carried out by the economic enterprises or authorized institutions concerning the separate collection of the package wastes at source.
4) To establish facilities or to have facilities established to carry out sorting activities of the package wastes collected separately at source or to benefit from such existent facilities.
5) To take the necessary measures not to include package wastes in domestic waste collection vehicles.
6) To take the necessary measures not to accept package wastes in landfill sites 7) To send information about the separate collection works to the Ministry until the end of February each year.
8) To have the necessary measures to be taken related to the recovery facilities granted temporary work permit or license from the Ministry.
Responsibilities of Package Producers
Article 9- Package producers have the following responsibilities;
a)To make production with the least waste and environmental damage possible starting from the design process to use and after-use stages
b)To design, produce and market the package material appropriate for reuse, recycling or recovery
c)To abide by the limit values stated in the article 14 and to meet the basic conditions stated in Annex-1 during the production of packages
d)To put the recoverable package symbol (Annex-3) and the numbers and abbreviations presented in Annex-2 on the packages according to their types
e)To collect, recycle and recover the package wastes in line with this Regulation in the name of the marketers, to take the necessary measures accordingly, to establish collection and recovery systems or to have such systems established, to meet the related expenses and to document the said activities.
f)To fill in the “Package Producer Application Form” presented in Annex-4, including information about the packages they marketed last year and to submit the said form to the Ministry until the end of February.
Responsibilities of Marketers
Article 10- Marketers have the following responsibilities;
a)During the packaging process of the products, to use packages, which will produce waste in the least amount possible and which will be the easiest and most economical to recycle and recover,
b)During the packaging process of the products, to prefer packages that will be suitable for reuse,
c)To recollect, reuse, recycle and recover the packages they have marketed in accordance with the targets stated in this regulation; to take necessary precautions in this regard; to establish/to have some other party establish the collection and recovery system and to present the package wastes management plan including these activities to the Ministry,
d)To work in cooperation and coordination with Municipalities in separate collection of package wastes at source,
e)To meet the expenditures related to the collection, recycling, recovery and disposal of the packages,
f)To put the recoverable package symbol and code number to be assigned by the Ministry or the symbol of the authorized institution that the product belongs, on the labels of the packages offered to the market,
g)To work with recovery facilities, which have been granted with temporary working permits or licenses by the Ministry, so as to achieve the targets set forth by the Ministry
h)To fill in the “Marketer Application Form” (Annex-5) about the products they marketed in the previous year and to submit the said form to the Ministry until the end of February every year.
Responsibilities of Sales Points
Article 11- Sales points have the following responsibilities;
a)To establish collection points in order to ensure separate collection of wastes from the end consumers and their classification according to their types, with the aim to perform recovery of package wastes,
b)To work together with the relevant municipalities, authorized institutions, recovery facilities granted with temporary working permits or licenses by the Ministry so as to ensure the collection of package wastes and recovery of the collected materials,
c)Not to sell the packaged products that do not bear the recoverable package symbol and code number assigned by the Ministry or the symbol of the authorized institution that the product belongs.
PART THREE
Provisions Related To The Production Of Packages
Prevention
Article 12- Beginning from the package design process to the production, marketing, distribution, use, becoming waste and disposal processes; environmental damage should be reduced in terms of quantity and quality by means of clean products and technologies. To this end, heavy metal contents and unit weights of the packages to be produced will be minimized without distorting the function of the package and without negatively affecting the required health, cleaning and safety conditions.
Main Conditions
Article 13- Package producers are responsible to design and produce the packages so as to ensure that they will be reusable, recoverable, and recyclable and they will give the least environmental damage possible during the management and disposal stages covering the abovementioned processes.