Regulations have been introduced to fulfil Britain's obligations under the EC Packaging and Packaging Waste Directive.

They seek to improve the environment by placing a "producer responsibility" obligation on certain businesses involved in the packaging supply chain to recover and recycle a specific percentage of packaging waste.

Targets for the recovery and recycling of packaging waste are imposed and apply to all companies who contribute towards packaging from the manufacturing of packaging raw materials to the selling of packaging to the final user.

Any business which handles 50 tonnes of packaging per year and with a turnover of £5 million per year is likely to be affected, although the regulations are being introduced over a period of time.

Companies should have registered individually with the Environment Agency or a registered collective scheme, such as VALPAK, by the end of August, 1997. They should have also provided data on the quantity of waste handled by that date.

The recovery and recycling obligations came into force at the beginning of 1998 and companies or the collective recovery schemes must demonstrate that they have achieved the interim targets by the end of this year.

By January 1, 2001, companies will have to meet the targets in the directive. If they fail to do so, they can be prosecuted and face a fine of up to £5,000.

Michael Boyd is a partner at commercial lawyers Pinsent Curtis.

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