Swedish Packaging Law EPR

Tasks of Each Participant

The Swedish "Regulations on Producers' Packaging Liability" (2022:1274) came into force on January 1, 2023, aiming to promote the classification and recycling of packaging waste, facilitate the efficient use of resources, and reduce carbon dioxide emissions. This liability applies to packaging made of various materials, covering the entire process from raw materials to final products, and from producers to users. This regulation has assigned new roles and tasks to municipalities, producers, Producer Responsibility Organizations (PROs), and the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency, as follows:

I. New Roles of Municipalities

1.Collection and Notification Duties:

Starting from January 1, 2024, each municipality is responsible for collecting packaging waste from households and certain enterprises, and notifying households of preventive measures and guiding them on the classification of packaging waste.

2. Door - to - Door Collection Requirements: 

By January 1, 2027 at the latest, all cities must carry out door - to - door collection of household packaging waste. During collection, it is necessary to classify according to materials such as paper, plastic, metal, and glass (colored and colorless glass).

3. Collection of Large - Sized Packaging: 

Large - sized packaging waste made of paper and plastic needs to be collected at easily accessible public collection points.

4. Collection of Other Materials: 

Packaging materials made of wood, ceramics, textiles, etc. must all be collected at the municipality's recycling centers.

5. Collection in Outdoor Places: 

Starting from January 1, 2026, the municipal authorities are responsible for collecting packaging waste in squares, parks, and other popular outdoor places.

6. Cost Compensation: 

Producers need to pay collection fees to the municipal authorities through their affiliated PROs. The compensation amount is determined according to the regulations promulgated by the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency.

II. Handling of Enterprises' Packaging Waste

1. Establishment of Collection Points: 

Starting from January 1, 2024, the Producer Responsibility Organization with the largest market share is obliged to establish enterprise packaging waste collection points. The waste collected at the collection points will be allocated to each Producer Responsibility Organization according to their respective market shares.

2. Cost Compensation: 

Producer Responsibility Organizations other than the one with the largest market share need to compensate the largest Producer Responsibility Organization for the reasonable costs related to the operation of the collection points.

3. Municipal Collection Option: 

Some enterprises that handle waste at the same location as households, if they use the same containers and spaces to handle waste within the property, can request the municipality to collect their packaging waste by notifying the municipality.

4. Market - Driven System: 

Enterprises can also hand over their packaging or packaging waste to the market - driven system for reuse or material recycling.

III. Requirements for Manufacturers and Professionals

All packaging manufacturers must be affiliated with an approved Producer Responsibility Organization or provide a Producer Responsibility Organization on their own. The activities of the Producer Responsibility Organization must be approved by the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency, and the approval application must be submitted before March 31 of the year before the start of operation.

IV. New Regulations on the Return System

The new regulations also include provisions regarding the deposit - return system (i.e., bottles and cans). Since January 1, 2023, through the amendment of the environmental enforcement regulations, the enforcement responsibility for the return system has been transferred from the Swedish Board of Agriculture to the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency. Existing approved return systems can continue to operate under this approval until January 1, 2027. After that, they need to be re - examined according to the new regulations.