January 20, 2023 – With the aim of preventing and reducing the impact of packaging and packaging waste on the environment, on December 27, 2022, Spain issued Royal Decree 1055/2022.
The main purpose of this new Decree is to make all packaging on the market recyclable by 2030 and, where possible, reusable.
For this reason, companies should design packaging to reduce its environmental impact and the generation of waste throughout its life cycle. Moreover, waste disposal must avoid harming human health and the environment.
Packaging design and marking obligations
Royal Decree 1055/2022 will apply as of January 1, 2025, and introduces several packaging requirements. Below a list of major novelties (Article 12).
- Packaging is considered to meet the basic requirements when it complies with the following standards:
- UNE-EN 13427:2005 “Packaging – Requirements for the use of European standards in the field of packaging and packaging waste”;
- UNE-EN 13428:2005 “Packaging – Requirements specific to manufacturing and composition – prevention by source reduction”;
- UNE-EN 13429:2005 “Packaging – Reuse”;
- UNE-EN 13430:2005 “Packaging – Requirements for packaging recoverable by material recycling”;
- UNE-EN 13431:2005 “Packaging – Requirements for packaging recoverable in the form of energy recovery, including specification of minimum inferior calorific value” and
- UNE-EN 13432:2001 “Packaging – Requirements for packaging recoverable through composting and biodegradation – Test scheme and evaluation criteria for the final acceptance of packaging”
- Other existing harmonized EU and national standards or those that may be approved in the future.
- Packaging shall indicate its reusable status and the symbol associated with the deposit, return and refund system.
- Household packaging (including cosmetic packaging) shall indicate the instructions for disposal. For packaging made of different materials, it shall display
- The container for each material for separable packaging.
- Otherwise, the container of the predominant material by weight or a better collection alternative (that avoids possible incidents in the subsequent recycling process).
- Packaging cannot bear the claim to be “environmentally friendly” or any other equivalent as it could lead to its abandonment in the environment.
- Manufacturers and/or importers shall have the documents supporting the information on the packaging recyclability.
- Packaging that is compostable in home or industrial composting shall be marked “do not leave in the environment”.
Do you want to know more about requirements for cosmetic products in Spain? Read our previous article.
References:
Agencia Estatal Boletín Oficial del Estado. (2022). Real Decreto 1055/2022, de 27 de diciembre, de envases y residuos de envases. Retrieved on 16/01/2023
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