The Producer Responsibility Obligations (Packaging Waste) Regulations (Northern Ireland) SR 1999/115 have now been consolidated and replaced by the Producer Responsibility Obligations (Packaging Waste) Regulations (Northern Ireland) SR 2006/356, from 9 October 2006. They apply to companies who have a turnover of more than £2 million and handle packaging or packaging materials weighing more than 50 tonnes each year.
As with the previous Regulations, they make sure Northern Ireland meets its recovery and recycling targets for packaging waste. This system places the responsibility for the recovery and recycling of packaging waste on the producers. The new Regulations set interim domestic targets and recovery and recycling obligations which take account of the probable new targets which will have to be met up to 2010.
Producers covered by the Regulations can either buy packaging waste recovery notes (PRNs) or packaging waste export notes (PERNs) themselves, or join a compliance scheme. The benefit of such schemes is that the producer will be exempt from carrying out the obligations of the Regulations. Anyone who does not join a compliance scheme must register themselves with the Department of the Environment.
