A Study Of Directive On Packaging And Packaging Waste In EU

The resource wasting of excessive packaging and the "White Pollution" of packaging waste has caused more and more public concern on packaging and packaging law. There is not a specific law to regulate packaging activities in China now. China Packaging Federation and both definitely propose that learning and studying foreign packaging laws and regulations be the key preparatory work for China packaging legislation.Directive on Packaging and Packaging waste in EU(hereinafter referred to as "the Directive")was promulgated in December,1994 by the European Parliament and the European Council. This Directive aims to harmonize national measures concerning the management of packaging and packaging waste in order, on the one hand, to prevent any impact thereof on the environment of all Member States as well as of third countries or to reduce such impact, thus providing a high level of environmental protection, and on the other hand, to ensure the functioning of the internal market and to avoid obstacles to trade and distortion and restriction of competition within the Community. The Directive has been proved, after 15 years of practice, to be a successful paragon in building a resource-saving and environment-friendly society. It has important reference for China packaging legislation in theory and practice.The Directive includes the text and two appendices. The text is composed of general principles and articles. There are 39 clauses in general principles while 25 in articles including such contents as Objectives, Recycling and Recovery, Concentration levels of heavy metals present in packaging and National measures, Implementation. There are 3 attachments concerning essential requirements of components in packages in the appendices.Through analyzing the status and functions of the Directive in EU environment legislative system, it is concluded that the Directive is a second-level law derived from the basic legislative documents in establishing EU. It is an environmental law at EU level addressed to all the Member States. It is also a hard law compulsory to the Member States but not comprehensively compulsory and directly applicable. It will not work unless transformed into national measures by all the Member States. All the member States had basically attained the goals regulated in the Directive by June 30th,2001. The implementation of the Directive has had positive impact on environment as well as economy and society. Research shows that the Directive implementation increased only 4%-9% additional expenditure compared with non-implementation, but increased 42,000 full time jobs.The solution of integrated product environmental policy conerning comprehensive consideration of the stages in Products Life-Cycle is the key experience that we should learn from the Directive in China packaging legislation. According to the principle of extended producer responsibility, producers and consumers jointly consume resource and influence the environment, and they are both polluters. In accordance with polluter pays principle, producers know the special position and the externalities of the product. The producer should take most of environmental responsibilities. Producers include end product producers, spare parts producers, raw material producers, product designers, installers and packagers in the production chain, and also exporters, wholesalers, distributors, retailers in circulation area. Consumers take product environment responsibilities as a matter of course by means of Green Consumption. Advance Fee System, Deposit Refund System and participation of product recycling. Compared with producers and consumers, government has more credibility as well as more resources, as it plays an irreplaceable role in relative information communication of product environmental responsibility system. In addition, government should set up a basic legislative structure and is an important participant in product environmental responsibility system. Government takes product environmental responsibilities through the development of laws and regulations, its advantage in recycling and the implementation of government green purchase.Chinese packaging legislation has benfit to healthy and rapid development of packaging, to green barrier's span of international trade, and to protection of consumer's rights and interest. The governance of packaging waste in China should adopt life-cycle integrated governance model, and combine "3R,1D" and end treatment. Green package should be encouraged and developed in package legislation.