Regulation (EU) 2025/40 on packaging and packaging waste, published in the Official Journal of the EU last Wednesday, establishes the extension of Extended Producer Responsibility, EPR, to commercial and industrial packaging, which is a new obligation for producers and marketers of Community fresh fruits and vegetables, a measure which was already included in Spain's national legislation, in Royal Decree 1055/2022.
Regulation (EU) 2025/40, which bans the use of plastics in packaging for the marketing of fruits and vegetables below 1.5 kilos, also establishes other measures related to the management of packaging and recycling that also affect the production and marketing of fruits and vegetables, specifically the Extended Producer Responsibility, EPR.
Extended Producer Responsibility holds producers responsible for the entire life cycle of the products they place on the market, from their design to the end of their useful life (including the collection and recycling of waste), a measure that was already included in previous EU Directives and national regulations on packaging and packaging waste, and that already affected domestic packaging. Now, this responsibility has been extended to commercial and industrial packaging, which, according to Fepex, means new obligations for EU producers and packers. These new obligations arising from the EPR include registering in an official register of product producers and adhering to an Extended Producer Responsibility System, EPRS, for commercial and industrial packaging.
The national administration had anticipated the EU regulation and in December 2022 published Royal Decree 1055/2022 on packaging and packaging waste, which included extended producer responsibility to commercial packaging.
For more information: www.fepex.es