EXTENDED PRODUCER RESPONSIBILITY FRAMEWORK REGULATIONS

SUBSIDIARY LEGISLATION 549.141

EXTENDED PRODUCER RESPONSIBILITY

FRAMEWORK REGULATIONS

9th April, 2021

LEGAL NOTICE 151 of 2021.

The title of these regulations is Extended Producer

Responsibility Framework Regulations.

(1)

These regulations bring into effect Articles 8 and

8a of Directive 2008/98/EC of the European Parliament and of the

Council of 19 November 2008 on waste and repealing certain

Directives as amended by Directive (EU) 2018/851 of the European

Parliament and of the Council of 30 May 2018 amending Directive

2008/98/EC on waste.

(2) These regulations provide a framework for extended

producer responsibility schemes and shall also apply to extended

producer responsibility schemes established pursuant to other

subsidiary legislation under the Environment Protection Act, in

particular the Waste Management (End of Life Vehicles) Regulations,

the Waste Management (Packaging and Packaging Waste)

Regulations, the Waste Management (Waste Batteries and

Accumulators) Regulations and the Waste Management (Electrical

and Electronic Equipment) Regulations.

(3) The Environment and Resources Authority shall work in

cooperation with the Circular Economy Malta and the Department for

Local Government, and may request advice from the Office for

Competition in accordance with the Malta Competition and

Consumer Affairs Authority Act, in carrying out its designated

responsibilities under these regulations to ensure that the objectives

of these regulations are achieved.

(1)

In these regulations, unless the context otherwise

requires

"the Act" means the Environment Protection Act;

"the Agency" means the Circular Economy Malta established

by the Circular Economy Malta (Establishment) Order;

"Authority" or "competent authority" means the Authority

established in article 6 of the Act;

"extended producer responsibility scheme" means a set of

measures, including legislative measures promulgated under the Act,

national or European Union legislation, to ensure that producers of

products bear financial responsibility or financial and organisational

responsibility for the management of the waste stage of a product’s

life cycle;

"Extended Producer Responsibility Consultative Committee"

or "EPR Consultative Committee" means the committee established

under regulation 5;

"the Minister" means the Minister as defined in article 2 of the

Act;

"producer of a product" or "producers of products" means any

natural or legal person who professionally develops, manufactures,

processes, treats, sells or imports specific products;

"producer responsibility organisation" or "PRO" means an

organisation implementing extended producer responsibility

obligations on behalf of the producers who are members of that

organisation.

(2) All other terms shall have the same meaning as is

assigned to them in the Waste Regulations.

(1)

In order to strengthen the re-use and the

prevention, recycling and other recovery of waste, the Minister may

take either legislative or non-legislative measures to ensure that any

producer of a product has extended producer responsibility

Provided that, when applying extended producer

responsibility, the Minister shall take into account the technical

feasibility and economic viability and the overall environmental,

human health and social impacts, respecting the need to ensure the

proper functioning of the internal market.

(2) The extended producer responsibility shall be applied

without prejudice to the responsibility for waste management as

provided for in regulation 12(1) of the Waste Regulations and without

prejudice to existing waste stream specific and product specific

Union or national legislation.

(3) In the case of the introduction of the measures referred

to in sub-regulation (1), the costs of waste management are to be

borne wholly by the producer of the product from which the waste

came

Provided that the distributors of such product may share

these costs.

(4) Where the measures referred to in sub-regulation (1)

include the establishment of extended producer responsibility

schemes, including those established pursuant to other Union or

national legislation, the Minister, in consultation with the Authority

and the Agency, shall

(a)

define in a clear way the roles and

responsibilities of all relevant actors involved, including

producers of products placing products on the national market,

producer responsibility organisations, private or public waste

operators, local authorities and, where appropriate, re-use and

preparing for re-use operators and social economy enterprises;

(b)

in line with the waste hierarchy, set waste

management targets, aiming to attain at least the quantitative

targets relevant for the extended producer responsibility

scheme as laid down in the Waste Regulations, the Waste

Management (End of Life Vehicles) Regulations, the Waste

Management (Packaging and Packaging Waste) Regulations,

the Waste Management (Waste Batteries and Accumulators)

Regulations and the Waste Management (Electrical and

Electronic Equipment) Regulations, and set other quantitative

targets and, or qualitative objectives that are considered

relevant for the extended producer responsibility scheme;

(c)

ensure that a reporting system is in place to

gather data on the products placed on the national market by

the producers of products subject to extended producer

responsibility and data on the collection and treatment of

waste resulting from those products specifying, where

appropriate, the waste material flows, as well as other data

relevant for the purposes of monitoring the targets referred to

in paragraph (b);

(d)

ensure equal treatment of producers of products

regardless of their origin or size, without placing a

disproportionate regulatory burden on producers, including

small and medium-sized enterprises, of small quantities of

products

Provided that the Authority shall ensure that extended

producer responsibility schemes that have been established before 4

July 2018, comply with the requirements laid down in these

regulations by 5 January 2023.

(5) Producers of products established in another Member

State of the European Union and placing products on the national

market may appoint a legal or natural person established in Malta as

an authorised representative for the purposes of fulfilling their

obligations related to any extended producer responsibility schemes

established in Malta

Provided that the authorised representative shall adhere

to the Authority’s requirements, such as registration, information and

reporting requirements.

(6)

The Minister may, in consultation with the Authority

and the Agency, through publication in the Gazette, require that

producers of products that undertake financial or financial and

organisational responsibilities for the management of the waste stage

of a product’s life cycle of their own accord shall apply some or all of

the requirements referred to in these regulations.

(7) The Authority shall take the necessary measures to

ensure that the waste holders targeted by the extended producer

responsibility schemes established in accordance with sub-regulation

(1), are informed about waste prevention measures, centres for re-use

and preparing for re-use, take-back and collection systems, and the

prevention of littering

Provided that the Minister shall take measures to create

incentives for the waste holders to assume their responsibility to

deliver their waste into the separate collection systems in place,

notably, where appropriate, through economic incentives or

regulations.

(8) The Minister, in consultation with the Authority and the

Agency, may take appropriate measures to encourage the design of

products and components of products in order to reduce their

environmental impact and the generation of waste in the course of the

production and subsequent use of products, and in order to ensure

that the recovery and disposal of products that have become waste

take place in accordance with regulations 4A and 4B of the Waste

Regulations.

Such measures may encourage, inter alia, the

development, production and marketing of products and components

of products that are suitable for multiple use, that contain recycled

materials, that are technically durable and easily repairable and that

are, after having become waste, suitable for preparing for re-use and

recycling in order to facilitate proper implementation of the waste

hierarchy. The measures shall take into account the impact of

products throughout their life cycle, the waste hierarchy and, where

appropriate, the potential for multiple recycling.

(1)

The Minister shall set up an Extended Producer

Responsibility Consultative Committee to act as an advisor to the

Authority.

(2) It shall be the function of the EPR Consultative

Committee, inter alia, to

(a)

assist the Authority in ensuring a regular

dialogue between relevant stakeholders involved in the

implementation of extended producer responsibility schemes,

including producers and distributors, producer responsibility

organisations, private or public waste operators, local

authorities, civil society organizations and, where applicable,

social economy actors, re-use and repair networks and

preparing for re-use operators;

(b)

assist the Authority in matters relating to

compliance of producers of products and PROs with these

regulations, as well as compliance with extended producer

responsibility schemes established nationally or at European

Union level;

(c)

assist the Authority in ensuring that producers of

products and PROs fully comply with the general minimum

requirements for extended producer responsibility schemes

referred to in regulation 6;

(d)

aid in investigations led by the Authority in line

with regulation 7;

(e)

advise the Authority on the distribution or

allocation of Local Councils among producers, or, where the

obligations of individual producers are to be achieved

collectively, between producer responsibility organisations,

where extended producer responsibility schemes require that

producers or PROs are to make the necessary arrangements

with Local Councils for the collection and management of

waste; and

(f)

perform any additional functions as may from

time to time be assigned to it by the Minister in consultation

with the Authority.

(3) The Minister shall appoint representatives to serve as

members of the EPR Consultative Committee. The EPR Consultative

Committee shall be composed as follows

(a)

two members representing the Environment and

Resources Authority;

(b)

one member representing the Circular Economy

Malta;

(c)

one member representing the Department for

Local Government; and

(d)

any other member as the Minister may deem fit.

(4) The Minister shall appoint a Chairperson and a Deputy

Chairperson from amongst the members of the EPR Consultative

Committee provided that the Chairperson shall be one of the

members listed in sub-regulation (3)(a).

(5) The Minister shall appoint a Secretary to the EPR

Consultative Committee.

(6) The members of the EPR Consultative Committee shall

hold office for such period, being not more than three years, as may

be specified in the letter appointing them and if no such period is

specified, shall remain in office for three years. The members so

appointed may be re-appointed for other terms by the Minister on the

expiry of their term.

(7) The EPR Consultative Committee shall meet at least ten

(10) times every year, either at the request of the Chairperson of the

EPR Consultative Committee or at the request of any other two

members of the EPR Consultative Committee representing different

competent authorities.

(8) At any meeting referred to in sub-regulation (7), the

EPR Consultative Committee may act notwithstanding any absence

or vacancy amongst its members provided there is a quorum

consisting of the Chairperson or the Deputy Chairperson, and at least

three other members.

(9) The meetings of the EPR Consultative Committee shall

be chaired by the Chairperson or in his absence by the Deputy

Chairperson.

(10) It shall be the joint duty of the members constituting the

EPR Consultative Committee to ensure that the overall functions of

the Consultative Committee are carried out in close collaboration and

as efficiently as possible in accordance to their designated

responsibilities.

(11) The EPR Consultative Committee shall regulate its own

procedures and the Authority shall lead in coordinating the

administrative procedures of the EPR Consultative Committee.

(1)

Any producer of a product or producer

responsibility organisation shall

(a)

have a clearly defined geographical, product and

material coverage without limiting those areas to those where

the collection and management of waste are the most

profitable;

(b)

provide an appropriate availability of waste

collection systems within the areas referred to in paragraph

(a);

(c)

have the necessary financial means or financial

and organisational means to meet its extended producer

responsibility obligations;

(d)

put in place an adequate self-control mechanism,

supported, where relevant, by regular independent audits, to

appraise

(i)

its financial management, including

compliance with the requirements laid down in sub-

regulation (3)(a) and (b); and

(ii) the quality of data collected and reported

in accordance with regulation 4(4)(c) and with the

requirements of Regulation (EC) No 1013/2006;

(e)

make publicly available information about the

attainment of the waste management targets referred to in

regulation 4(4)(b); and

(f)

in the case of a producer responsibility

organisation, make also publicly available information about

(i)

its ownership and membership;

(ii) the financial contributions paid by

producers of products, members of the producer

responsibility organisation, per unit sold or per tonne of

product placed on the market; and

(iii) the selection

procedure

for

waste

management operators.

(2) The provision of information to the public referred to in

sub-regulation (1) shall be without prejudice to preserving the

confidentiality of commercially sensitive information in conformity

with the relevant European Union and national legislation.

(3) The financial contributions paid by the producer of a

product to comply with its extended producer responsibility

obligations shall

(a)

cover the following costs for the products that

the producer puts on the national market

(i)

costs of separate collection of waste and

its subsequent transport and treatment, including

treatment necessary to meet the waste management

targets, and costs necessary to meet other targets and

objectives as referred to in regulation 4(4)(b), taking

into account the revenues from re-use, from sales of

secondary raw material from its products and from

unclaimed deposit fees;

(ii) costs of providing adequate information

to waste holders in accordance with regulation 4(7);

(iii) costs of data gathering and reporting in

accordance with regulation 4(4)(c).

(b)

in the case of a producer responsibility

organisation, be modulated, where possible, for individual

products or groups of similar products, notably by taking into

account their durability, repairability, re-usability and

recyclability and the presence of hazardous substances,

thereby taking a life-cycle approach and aligned with the

requirements set by relevant European Union legislation, and

where available, based on harmonised criteria in order to

ensure a smooth functioning of the internal market; and

(c)

not exceed the costs that are necessary to

provide waste management services in a cost-efficient way.

Such costs shall be established in a transparent way between

all the actors concerned.

(4) The provisions of sub-regulation (3)(a) shall not apply to

extended producer responsibility schemes established pursuant to the

Waste Management (End of Life Vehicles) Regulations, the Waste

Management (Waste Batteries and Accumulators) Regulations and

the Waste Management (Electrical and Electronic Equipment)

Regulations.

(1)

The Authority, in collaboration with the EPR

Consultative Committee, may conduct an investigation into a

particular producer or PRO, including investigations into particular

type of agreements. In the course of investigations, the Authority

may request any information, including financial information, held

by other competent authorities, producers and PROs, in relation to

producers of products and PROs, to ensure that the objective of these

regulations are achieved. The Authority may carry out any

inspections necessary for that purpose.

(2) The Authority shall have the power to carry out

investigations of its own motion or at the request of the Minister or

upon a reasonable allegation in writing of a breach of the provisions

of these regulations, by a complainant or any producer of a product or

a PRO.

(3) During the course of any investigation, the Authority

may request any producer of a product or a producer responsibility

organisation to furnish it with any information or document in its

possession which the Authority has reason to believe is relevant to

the matter under investigation, within such time as in the

circumstances of the investigation the Authority may consider

reasonable

Provided that nothing in this sub-regulation may be

construed as authorising the Authority to order the production of any

document or the disclosure of any information which may be subject

to the duty of professional secrecy.

(4) When sending a request for information to any producer

of a product or a producer responsibility organisation, the Authority

shall specify what information is required and fix a time-limit within

which the information is to be provided

Provided that failure to adhere to such request may

entail liability to a daily penalty in accordance with the Daily

Penalties (Environment) Regulations.

(5) Where any producer of a product or a producer

responsibility organisation submits information, which contains

business secrets or other confidential information, the provisions of

regulation 8 shall apply.

(1)

Any producer of a product or a producer

responsibility organisation who submits information or comments to

the Authority in the course of an investigation, shall clearly identify

any material which it considers to be confidential, giving reasons

therefor, and shall provide a separate non-confidential version, where

applicable by the date set by the Authority for making its submissions

known.

(2) Without prejudice to sub-regulation (1), the Authority

may require persons or producers of a product or producer

responsibility organisations to submit documents pursuant to these

regulations, to identify the documents or parts of documents which

they consider to contain business secrets or other confidential

information belonging to them and to identify the persons, producers

of a product or a producer responsibility organisations to which such

documents are to be considered confidential.

(3) The Authority may set a time-limit within which

persons, producers of a product or a producer responsibility

organisation or any other bodies are to

(a)

substantiate their claim for confidentiality with

regard to each individual document or part of such document,

statement or part of such statement;

(b)

provide the Authority with a non-confidential

version of the documents or statements, in which the

confidential passages are deleted; and

(c)

provide a concise description of each part of the

deleted information.

(4) In the event that persons, producers of a product or

producer responsibility organisations or any other bodies fail to

comply with sub-regulations (1) and (2), the Authority may deem that

the documents or statements concerned do not contain confidential

information and may consequently assume that the persons,

producers of a product or producer responsibility organisations or

other bodies have no objections to the disclosure of the documents or

statements concerned in their entirety.

(5) Where persons, producers of a product or producer

responsibility organisations or any other bodies meet the conditions

set out in sub-regulations (1) and (2), the Authority shall

(a)

either provisionally accept the claims which

appear justified; or

(b)

inform the person, producer of a product or a

producer responsibility organisation or any other bodies that it

does not agree with the confidentiality claim in whole or in

part, where it is apparent that the claim is unjustified.

(6) The Authority may reverse its provisional acceptance of

the confidentiality claim in whole or in part at a later stage.

(7) Where the Authority does not agree with the

confidentiality claim from the outset or where it takes the view that

the provisional acceptance of the confidentiality claim should be

reversed, and thus intends to disclose information, the Authority shall

inform such person, producer of a product or a producer

responsibility organisation or any other body, in writing, of its

intention to disclose such information, give its reasons and set a time-

limit within which such person, producer of a product or a producer

responsibility organisation or any other body may inform the

Authority in writing of its views. If, following submission of those

views, a disagreement on the confidentiality claim persists, the

Authority shall take a decision thereon.

Any person who feels aggrieved by a decision taken by

the Authority under these regulations may appeal against that

decision before the Environment and Planning Review Tribunal

within thirty (30) days of the notification of the decision.

(1)

Any person who -

(a)

fails to comply with any provision of these

regulations, or with any order lawfully given in terms of any

provision of these regulations;

(b)

contravenes any restriction, prohibition, order or

requirement arising from these regulations, or imposed by the

Authority in accordance with these regulations;

(c)

acts in contravention of any provision of these

regulations;

(d)

conspires with, aids, abets, counsels, instigates,

procures or knowingly allows any other person to contravene

or fail to comply with the provisions of these regulations or of

any restriction, order, prohibition or requirement imposed by

or under these regulations; or

(e)

attempts to commit any of breaches indicated in

paragraphs (a) to (d),

shall be guilty of an offence against these regulations.

(2) Any person who commits or attempts to commit an

offence against these regulations shall, on conviction, be liable

(a)

on a first conviction to a fine (multa) of not less

than one thousand one hundred and sixty-five euro (€1,165)

but not exceeding two thousand and three hundred and thirty

euro (€2,330);

(b)

on a second or subsequent convictions, to a fine

(multa) of not less than two thousand and three hundred and

thirty euro (€2,330), but not exceeding four thousand and six

hundred and sixty-six euro (€4,666) or to imprisonment for a

term not exceeding two years, or to both such fine and

imprisonment

Provided that the court shall order any person who has

been found guilty of committing an offence against these regulations

to pay for the expenses incurred by any of the competent authorities

as a result of the said offence, the revocation of the permit issued by

the Authority and the confiscation of the corpus delicti, if applicable.

(3) The provisions of articles 23 and 30(1) of the Criminal

Code shall, mutatis mutandis, apply to proceedings in respect of

offences against these regulations.