Tyres, agricultural plastic, motor vehicles, motor vehicle parts.

Waste Act Amendment Act

Under Article 8 of the European Union (EU) waste law (Waste Framework Directive 2008/98/EU, etc.), in order to strengthen the re-use and the prevention, recycling and other recovery of waste, Member States maytake legislative or non-legislative measures to ensure that any natural or legal person who professionallydevelops, manufactures, processes, treats, sells or imports products (producer of the product) has extendedproducer responsibility.

Directive 2018/851, amending Directive 2008/98/EC, highlights that extended producer responsibility schemesare an essential element of efficient waste management.
At this point, the European Union has introduced extended producer responsibility for batteries, packaging,motor vehicles and parts thereof, electrical and electronic equipment, and certain single-use plastic products.
The Waste Act establishes producer responsibility for products of concern. A product of concern means aproduct the waste resulting from which causes or may cause health or environmental hazards, environmentalnuisances or excessive pollution of the environment. In Estonia, products of concern include motor vehiclesand parts thereof, electrical and electronic equipment and parts thereof, batteries and accumulators, tyres,agricultural plastic, tobacco products with filters, fishing equipment containing plastic, wet wipes, and balloons.Any natural or legal person who, in the course of his business or profession, develops, manufactures,processes, sells, or imports products of concern has extended producer responsibility. Under the principle ofextended producer responsibility, the producer is responsible for fulfilling the waste management obligations ofthe products of concern placed on the market. Extended producer responsibility schemes ensure more efficientcollection and proper treatment of end-of-life products of concern in accordance with the EU waste legislationand international agreements. The purpose of the extended producer responsibility requirements is toencourage the re-use, preparation for re-use, and recycling of products of concern. Furthermore, the extendedproducer responsibility scheme promotes the placing on the market of durable, reusable, and recyclableproducts.
The term ‘tyre manufacturer’ which has been used so far only defined as a tyre manufacturer a person whoplaces tyres on the market in Estonia as an independent product ‘tyre’. Broadening the definition of a tyremanufacturer is necessary to ensure more efficient collection and proper treatment. By creating a singleproducer responsibility system, costs will be significantly reduced through economies of scale and businessesand consumers will be able to take end-of-life tyres free of charge to the collection point of waste tyres. Theextension of the term tyre manufacturer affects all persons placing tyres on the Estonian market with a traileras defined in Section 2 (9) of the Traffic Act, an off-road vehicle as defined in clause 36, a power-driven vehicleas defined in clause 40, a towed equipment as defined in clause 58, or an interchangeable towed device asdefined in clause 91.

Agricultural plastic has been highlighted as regards to the producer responsibility in the field of packaging.Agricultural plastic has been included in the Waste Act as a separate product of concern to ensure moreefficient collection and processing. The establishment of producer responsibility for agricultural plastics in theWaste Act is necessary to reduce the number of producers who circumvent producer responsibility and toprevent a situation in which these other distribution channels have to bear the costs of producer responsibilityfor the products of concern in the case of which the equipment was sold through remote or electronic sales.The establishment of producer responsibility for agricultural plastics affects all persons who place on theEstonian market silage wrap film, silage covering film, tunnel film, net wrap, or plastic twine used in agriculture.

Since placing on the market also involves making goods available by means of distance communication, theprovision concerning the authorised representative is amended and it is specified that, in the future, amanufacturer of a motor vehicle, motor vehicle part, tyre or agricultural plastic, who places its products on themarket of another European Union Member State in which it has no seat, must appoint an authorisedrepresentative, whether a natural or a legal person, who has a place of resident or seat in the respectiveMember State, to fulfil the obligations imposed on the manufacturer on its behalf. The authorisedrepresentative will enable smooth functioning of the internal market and reduce the administrative burden. Theauthorised representative will be responsible for fulfilling the obligations of the manufacturer. The appointmentof an authorised representative will make it easier to register the manufacturer and submit reports.