PEPE Plans (Prevention and Ecodesign Business Plan)
The Royal Decree 1055/2022of 27 December regulates in a comprehensive manner the packaging and packaging waste management in Spain, in line with European regulations. One of its main objectives is to promote the waste prevention and the packaging ecodesignto reduce the environmental impact from the product design phase.
What is a Prevention and Ecodesign Business Plan (PEPE Plan?)?
A Prevention and Ecodesign Business Plan (PEPE) is a strategic document to be drawn up by certain producers in order to define concrete measures to reduce
- the amount of material packaging in the packaging placed on the market, and minimising unnecessary, superficial or merely aesthetic packaging,
- the hazardousness of its components or materials,
- the generation of waste, or reduce it to the absolute minimum,
- and to improve the recyclability, reusability or compostability of packaging and packaging materials.
When is it mandatory to make a PEPE Plan?
PEPE is mandatory for the product producers that, in a calendar year, place on the Spanish market quantities of packaging exceeding the following limits:
- 250 tonnes for glass only.
- 50 tonnes for steel only.
- 30 tonnes for aluminium only.
- 20 tonnes for plastic only.
- 20 tonnes in the case of wood only.
- 15 tonnes for cardboard or composite materials only.
- 300 tonnes if several materials are involved and each of them individually does not exceed the above quantities.
If a producer exceeds any of these thresholds in a calendar year, it is obliged to submit a PEPE the following year.
Each PEPE Plan has a maximum duration of 5 years and needs to be updated if the conditions of the producer, the products or the quantities placed on the market change significantly on an annual basis.
To whom does this obligation apply?
Applies to all producers of the product, registered in the Register of Producers of Domestic Product and exceeding the above mentioned quantities.
In other words, any natural or legal person who, irrespective of the sales technique used, packages products which he places on the Spanish market, imports or acquires packaged products from other countries or manufactures, imports or acquires empty packaging in order to place them on the market and exceeds the abovementioned quantities.
It is not only limited to large manufacturers, but can also apply to distributors, importers or companies that brand their products under private labels or other trade names.