Quercus warns Bruxels of serious problems in packaging recycling

Quercus – National Association for Nature Conservation presented today to the European Commission a detailed report ((http://64.176.7.196/cir/comunicados/queixabruxelasembalagens.doc) on the main problems in the management and recycling of packaging in Portugal.

This report clearly shows that urgent changes are needed in the way packaging recycling is being done, in order to prevent a situation that will lead to the impossibility of fulfilling Portuguese obligations in terms of European recycling targets. There are several situations in which the European legislation is not being respected.

This warning of the European Commission comes in a period where is under debate the license renewal of the Green Dot Society (Sociedade Ponto Verde) the Portuguese entity that has been responsible for the packaging waste management.

Quercus has also sent this report to the Environmental Ministry, although most of these questions had already been presented earlier, some of them for more than two years, without any feedback or answer.

The most relevant aspects of this report are:

1 – The extremely low recycling results

In 2002, according to SPV data, only 10% of urban packaging have been recycled, which means a much lower target than the one established for 2005 (25%).

In the case of plastic packaging the situation is even worse, for only less than 1,6% have been recycled, although the target for 2005 is 15%.

2 – Wrong data are being sent to Bruxels

The total amount of recycled packaging in 2002 includes packaging with urban, industrial and distributional origin, but the universe of packaging produced considered only included urban packaging, and therefore the recycling results (percentage) sent to Bruxels present a higher value than the one actually registered in Portugal.

3 – Companies do not pay the Green Dot

Of the 1 250 000 tons of urban packaging placed on the market in 2002, only about 750 000 tons paid the Green Dot, and therefore 500 000 tons are being commercialised illegally, which makes even more difficult to raise the amount of money necessary to guarantee recycling.

4 – Positive discrimination of some companies

The Ministry of Environment authorized the company Águas do Marão to abstain itself from paying the Green Dot under the condition that this company would guarantee the recovery for recycling of all of her packaging placed on the market. Nonetheless, and although the Ministry knowledge of the malfunctioning of this system, allows the company to maintain this regime of almost exception, that naturally results in unfair competition due to bad environmental practices.

5 – Positive discrimination of some kinds of packaging

In Portugal, the cardboard packaging for food drinks (milk and juice), commonly known as Tetra Pak; remains, contrary to what happens in the majority of European countries, to pay a small Green Dot value that does not cover the separation costs. This situation contributes to an unfair competition towards other kinds of packaging.

This system places an exceptional economic burden on municipalities that try to separate this packaging from common paper, makes it impossible for smaller companies to separate paper lots and makes that the only solution available for paper and cardboard contaminated lots with this kind of packaging is its exportation to Spain.

6 – Hypermarkets continue to receive extra money

In 2002 hypermarkets continued to receive from SPV higher values than it would be appropriate for the delivery of materials for recycling. This situation is particularly serious for municipalities, for whom the Green Dot system was initially conceived, considering that this entities have much higher costs of packaging collection and separation.

7 – Packaging system for restaurants is illegal and destroys reuse

The law that made the commercialisation of reusable packaging in HORECA establishments (hotels, restaurants, cafeteria) compulsory was completely subverted with Verdoreca subsystem, which allows the use of one-way packaging but doesn’t guarantee it’s recycling.

Data presented by sector associations (water, soft drinks, beer and wine) indicates a substantial reduction in the use of reusable packaging, and therefore a contribution for an even higher growth of urban solid waste.

8 – Industrial packaging

In 2001 SPV was licensed to operate in the industrial packaging management, and was since them obligated to receive packaging waste from that source as long as the companies that recovered that materials were accredited waste management companies.  Even so, SPV has been refusing to accept that kind of packaging, which means that is not respecting the agreement that was in the base of the license.

9 – Medicines packaging is not recycled

The system created to manage medicines packaging (expired dates), deliberately sends all packaging recovered to incineration, although 80% of that packaging can be recycled.

10 – Lack of transparency in the system

Portuguese packaging law doesn’t allow the participation of environmental and consumer NGO’s in the Commission responsible for packaging monitoring, a situation that can not be understood and shows great lack of transparency.

11 – Ministry of Environment doesn’t answer packaging question presented by Quercus

Most of the questions presented in this report have previously been presented by Quercus to the Environmental Ministry, but no answer was given.

Lisbo, 10^th October 2003

Quercus - National Association for Nature Conservation

Contacts: 

Quercus: Rui Berkemeier +351 934256581, +351 217788473,