2016/0579/EE
EC/EFTA
EE Estland
  • S10E - Verpackungen
N/A
2016-11-10

The purpose of the Act amending the Packaging Act is to transpose
Directive (EU) 2015/720 of the European Parliament and of the Council
amending Directive 94/62/EC as regards reducing the consumption of
lightweight plastic carrier bags into Estonian law, and set objectives
and provide measures to achieve a decrease in consumption.

Act amending the Packaging Act

The draft Act will transpose Directive (EU) 2015/720 of the European
Parliament and of the Council amending Directive 94/62/EC as regards
reducing the consumption of lightweight plastic carrier bags into
Estonian law. Reducing the consumption of lightweight plastic carrier
bags is the general trend in the European Union.

The requirement that alternatives to lightweight plastic carrier
bags should be offered to consumers is added. It is laid down that no
more free lightweight or particularly lightweight plastic carrier bags
may be provided to consumers at the point of sale of products after 31
December 2018, except for very lightweight plastic carrier bags which
are used for hygiene purposes or for the immediate packaging of bulk
food products. The recommendation to avoid the marketing of plastic
carrier bags which decompose under the effect of oxidants is set out, as
consumers often regard them as biodegradable bags, which they are not,
and therefore cannot be sorted among biodegradable waste.

In order to obtain information on the consumption and objectives of
reducing the consumption of plastic carrier bags, the draft Act imposes
on points of sale the obligation to keep records thereof. The
information to be submitted to the Packaging Register is updated to
reflect the consumption of lightweight and very lightweight plastic
carrier bags.