1. ------ --- IND- 97 0002 P-- EN- ------ 970103 --- --- PROJET
Ministry of Finance and the Environment
(a) .......................................
Order no. ........../96
[Text on left-hand side of page:]
Recorded under no. ................ in the statute book of the Presidency of the Council, on ......... of ....................... 19.........
In recent years, a significant increase has been recorded in the quantities of solid urban waste; this increase is associated with the growth in the proportion of waste packaging. At the same time, there has been a reduction in the reuse of packaging of which there is still, despite everything, a significant amount. These facts justify the need to immediately adopt measures required, on the one hand, to promote the recycling of waste packaging and, on the other, to also promote the reuse of packaging.
Decree-Law no. ..........., of ....... of .................., established the rules and general principles with which the management of packaging and waste packaging must comply.
Although this Decree-Law defined the extent of the reuse of packaging and of the recycling of waste packaging and the outlines of the alternative systems intended to achieve this, it is important to establish the respective operating rules.
The present order establishes the regulation specified in the above law in respect of reusable packaging and non-reusable waste packaging management systems.
Through the provisions of this order it is intended, in addition to transposing into national law provisions from Directive 94/62/EC, of the
European Parliament and Council, of 20 December 1994, to pursue explicit environmental policy objectives aimed at guaranteeing not only the reduction of the quantities of solid urban waste but also the exercise of the consumer's right to choose reusable packaging.
Other aspects to be regulated, pursuant to Article 9 of said Decree-Law, in particular marking symbols, essential requirements and concentration levels of heavy metals in packaging, shall be the subject of other orders.
Therefore, under the provisions of Articles 5 and 9 of Decree-Law no.
.......... of ............ of ......................, the Government, through the Ministers for Finance and the Environment, orders the following:

Chapter I - Object
Article 1
Object
The present law establishes the operating rules of the deposit systems applicable to reusable packaging and to non-reusable packaging, as well as those of the integrated system applicable solely to non-reusable packaging, rules with which the economic operators responsible for the management of packaging and waste packaging must comply, under the terms of Articles 5 and 9 of Decree-Law no. .......... of ............ of
.......................
Chapter II - Reusable packaging
Article 2
Deposit system
1. Packers and/or those responsible for placing products on the national market who use reusable packaging to pack their products must set up a deposit system which enables them to reclaim and reuse their packaging after it has been used by consumers.
2. The deposit necessarily involves the charging to consumers, at the time of purchase, of a deposit which can only be reimbursed at the time of return. The Government may fix, by a Joint Order of the Ministers for
Finance and the Environment and after consulting the Associations representing the sectors involved, the minimum value of the deposit which must be passed on along the whole distribution chain and which must encourage the return of the packaging, without exceeding its real value.
3. The distributor/trader is obliged to charge and to reimburse the deposit specified in the above number, and also to ensure the collection of the used packaging, at the point of sale, and its storage under suitable conditions.
4. For the purpose of reclaiming packaging as specified in the above numbers, the packers and/or those responsible for placing products on the national market may establish premises intended for the collection of the used packaging.
5. The deposit referred to in the above numbers is not subject to any additional payment and its value must be clearly identified on the packaging or on the medium used to indicate the sale price of the product.
6. Packers and/or those responsible for placing products on the national market are obliged to carry out the collection of the packaging received and stored by the distributor/trader within a period to be agreed by the parties.
7. The distributor/trader is not obliged either to accept or to store used packaging whose type, format or make of product he does not sell.
8. With the aim of ensuring the consumer's right of choice, all distributors/traders who sell cold drinks, beers, natural mineral waters, from springs or packaged, and table wines (excluding those with the

classification of regional wine and quality wines produced in specified regions), packaged in non-reusable packaging, must also sell the same category of products packaged in reusable packaging.
9. Reusable packaging cannot be placed in municipal waste collection systems.
Responsibility
Article 3
1. At the end of the return cycle, the responsibility for the final destination of the reusable packaging lies with the respective packers or those responsible for placing products on the national market.
2. The responsibility specified in the above number shall only cease through a declaration of the assumption of responsibility by the company or body to which the packaging is delivered.
Article 4
Statistical data
1. Packers and/or those responsible for placing products on the national market must, on an annual basis, notify the Department for the Environment of the statistical data relating to the quantities of reusable and nonreusable packaging which they have placed on the market, the quantities of packaging used, actually reclaimed and reused, and also the quantities delivered to bodies which are responsible for recovery or disposal.
2. Distributors/traders with an annual volume of sales in excess of 180 million escudos must, on an annual basis, notify the Department for the
Environment of the statistical data relating to the quantities of reusable packaging which they sell.
3. The statistical data referred to in the above number must be notified by
31 March of the year immediately following the one to which its relates, in accordance with the model to be published by an Order of the Minister for the Environment.
Article 5
Reusable packaging management plans
1. Packers and/or those responsible for placing products on the national market must prepare the respective reusable packaging management plan which describes the device adopted in respect of the deposit system and the methods of controlling the system, in order to allow the measurement of the proportion of packaging collected for reuse in relation to the packaging sold.
2. The management plans must ensure total compliance with the objectives of this order.
3. Cold drinks, beers and natural mineral waters, from springs or packaged, intended for immediate consumption on the premises, in hotel, restaurant and similar establishments, shall compulsorily be packaged in reusable

packaging, with the exception of concentrates intended for the preparation of diluted cold drinks to be consumed on the premises.
4. A Working Group will be set up which, operating under the Packaging and
Waste Packaging Management Monitoring Committee (CAGERE), created by
Decree-Law no. .......... of ............ of ......................., shall be intended to study forms of contracting and open agreement which enable the objectives for reusable packaging, specified in this order, to be achieved.
5. The management plans must have as an overall objective the maintenance of the current market configuration for which reason, excluding consumption in hotel, restaurant and similar establishments, it is necessary to ensure the following minimum levels of reuse, expressed as a percentage of the total volumes, in litres: a) Cold drinks: 15% (1997), 20% (1998), 30% (1999); b) Beers: 70% (1997), 75% (1998), 80% (1999); c) Natural mineral waters, from springs or packaged: 5% (1997), 8% (1998),
10% (1999); d) Table wines (excluding those with the classification of regional wine and quality wines produced in specified regions): 55% (1997), 60%
(1998), 65% (1999).
6. The levels of reuse must be achieved per sector and are aimed as a whole at packers and/or those responsible for placing products on the national market, as well as distributors/traders.
7. The reusable packaging management plans must be submitted to the CAGERE by 31 October of the year following the one to which they relate.
8. Economic operators who have a deposit system on the date of entry into force of the present order must maintain this system and bring it into line with the present order, submitting annually the respective management plan, under the terms of the above numbers.
9. In relation to the deposit systems currently in existence, any measure aimed at deriving financial benefits as a result of the alteration of the minimum deposit value to be fixed pursuant to Article 2.2 is prohibited, for which reason, when exchanging packaging, the updating of the amounts of the deposits may not be requested.
Chapter III - Non-reusable packaging
Article 6
Management systems: integrated and deposit
1. Packers, those responsible for placing products on the national market and industrialists producing packaging or raw materials for the manufacture of packaging are responsible for the management and final destination of their waste packaging, and may transfer their responsibility to a body managing said integrated system, regulated under the terms of Article 7.

2. As an alternative to the system referred to in the above number, the economic operators referred to therein may organize a deposit system which must function along similar lines to the system described in Article 2, with the necessary adaptations, and which must be approved by the
Department for the Environment.
Article 7
Integrated system
1. Packers, those responsible for placing products on the national market and industrialists producing packaging or raw materials for the manufacture of packaging may transfer their responsibility for the management of their waste packaging to a managing body duly licensed to carry out this activity, under the terms of Decree-Law no. .......... of ............ of
......................., and of the provisions of the present order.
2. The transfer of responsibility to the managing body shall be the subject of a written contract, with a minimum duration of three years, and must contain: a) The identification and characterization of the packaging covered by the contract; b) The predicted quantity of waste from this packaging to be retrieved by the body; c) The terms of the control to be carried out by the body, in order to check the quantities and the nature of the packaging for which it is responsible; d) The financial compensation due to the body, bearing in mind the respective obligations, defined in the present order.
3. The responsibility of the body, referred to in number 1, for retrieving and recovering waste packaging is assumed, in accordance with the provisions of Article 8 of the present order, through contracts with the
Local Authorities or with companies managing multi-authority or interauthority systems to which the concession for selective collection and sorting has been granted, and with the organizations of suppliers and processors of packaging materials, created or to be created in order to ensure the retrieval and recovery of the materials reclaimed.
Article 8
Managing Body
1. Any managing body which intends to take responsibility for the management of waste packaging, under the integrated system specified in the above article, requires a licence to be granted by a joint decision of the
Ministers for the Economy and the Environment.
2. The granting of the licence depends on the technical and financial capabilities of the body for the operations in question and on the assessment of the specifications referred to in Article 9, with which the body must prepare the respective application.

3. The application must be submitted to the Department for the Environment which is responsible for co-ordinating the respective process and for notifying the final decision.
4. The responsibility of the managing body for the final destination of the waste packaging shall only cease through a declaration of the assumption of responsibility by the company or body to which the waste packaging is delivered.
Article 9
Specifications
1. In the case of urban or similar waste packaging, intended for collection by local authority systems, the specifications shall include the following references: a) Identification and technical characteristics of the waste packaging covered; b) Predicted quantities of waste packaging to be retrieved annually; c) Bases of the financial contribution required from packers and those responsible for placing packaged products on the national market, specifically the calculation formula of the respective tax, bearing in mind the quantities predicted, the volume, weight and capacity of the packaging, and the nature of the materials present in this packaging; d) Conditions for linking the activity of the body with the Local
Authorities (or managing companies of multi-authority or interauthority systems, under the terms of Article 7.3), specifically the method by which it is proposed to ensure the retrieval of waste collected and sorted by the latter, the technical specifications of the materials to be retrieved and the bases of the compensation given by the body to the Local Authorities (or to said companies) for the increased cost of the selective collection and sorting operations for waste packaging; e) Stipulation of an amount intended to finance consumer awareness campaigns on the measures to be adopted in terms of packaging and waste packaging management, and to develop new packaging recycling and recovery processes; f) Economic system devised for recovery, with evidence of the terms of the relationship between the body and the economic operators involved; g) Conditions of any reciprocity to be practised in respect of packaging from products originating from other countries.
2. In the case of any other waste packaging, specifically industrial, the specifications shall include the following references: a) Identification and technical characteristics of the waste packaging; b) Predicted quantities of waste packaging to be collected and retrieved annually;

c) Bases of the financial contribution required from packers and those responsible for placing packaged products on the national market, specifically the calculation formula of the respective tax, bearing in mind the quantities predicted, the volume, weight and capacity of the packaging, and the nature of the materials present in this packaging; d) Waste packaging management plan and economic system devised for reuse or recovery; e) Conditions of any reciprocity to be practised in respect of packaging from products originating from other countries.
Article 10
Profits
The profits of the body shall compulsorily be reinvested or used in its activity or connected activities, in line with the provisions of the above sub-paragraph e) of Article 9.1, and may be used to form funds or reserves for future operations, but with the distribution of profits, dividends or gains to the shareholders, partners or associates being expressly prohibited.
Article 11
Annual report
The managing body is obliged to provide the licencing bodies with an annual activity report, demonstrating the profits obtained in respect of waste packaging management, in particular with regard to recycling and other forms of recovery, by 31 March of the year immediately following the one to which the profits relate, in accordance with the model to be published by a
Joint Order of the Ministers for Finance and the Environment.
Chapter IV - Final provisions
Article 12
Entry into force
1. This order shall enter into force on the day immediately following its publication in the Journal of the Republic.
2. Article 5.3 must be complied with in full from 1 January 1999.
Signed on ............... of ..............................
The Minister for Finance
The Minister for the Environment