To increase the recycling efficiency of flat plastic packaging materials and reduce the impact of plastic waste on the environment, the EPA announced the draft amendment of Item 8, Item 12 and Table 1 of Item 1 of the Scopes for the Articles and the Packaging and Containers Thereof and the Enterprises Responsible for Recycling, Clearance and Disposal (物品或其包裝容器及其應負回收清除處理責任之業者範圍), which will list inner plastic trays and blister packaging as mandatory recyclables.
More and more packaging materials and methods are being invented and used in the market. Common ones include inner plastic trays used inside a commodity package and blister or clamshell packaging that covers and displays merchandise, such as blister packaging sealed to paper backer boards commonly used for toothbrushes and toys, and plastic trays commonly used to separate food inside food gift boxes. They are all of non-biodegradable nature. Classified as W type plastics, they differ greatly in material and category and must be sorted and processed at a higher cost. As they have not been announced as mandatory recyclables, recycling and processing enterprises are unwilling to recycle them, resulting in most of them being processed or disposed of as mixed garbage.
To gradually reduce the amount of domestic plastic waste and improve the recycling efficiency and quality of plastic packaging, inner plastic trays and blister packaging are expected to be announced as mandatory recyclables and will be referred to as “flat packaging material” along with flat plastic containers that have been previously announced as mandatory recyclables. Following the announcement of the amendments, presumably after May 2024, enterprises that manufacture or import flat plastic packaging materials or import articles that contain flat plastic packaging materials shall be registered as responsible enterprises according to the regulations. They shall report the operating or importing volume and pay the recycling, clearance and processing fees on their own initiative.
Excerpt from Major Environmental Policies, December 2022
- Source:
- Ministry of Environment
- Updated:
- 2023-04-18
- Hit:
- 5633