Agency given new flexibility over PRN accreditation

Following an emergency three-week consultation in February, Defra has scrapped the September deadline for applications for accreditation with new regulations coming into force yesterday.

Packaging waste reprocessors with new or additional sites will no longer have to apply before September 30 to be accredited in the following compliance year. And, packaging waste exporters will be able to submit new foreign mills to the Agency to be accredited so that they can issue Packaging waste Export Recovery Notes (PERNs), the export equivalent of PRNs.

Instead of applying for accreditation by a certain deadline, reprocessors and exporters may now apply as and when they require it for accreditation mid-year. The Environment Agency will assess the applications over an expected 12-week period before granting or refusing accreditation. From the date of a positive decision, applicants will be considered accredited, Defra said.

Evidence
PRNs are the evidence that producers in the packaging chain can purchase from reprocessors to show they have complied with their producer responsibility requirements under the UK packaging regulations. The purchase of PRNs is intended to provide revenue from the producers to invest in increasing recycling capacity sufficient to meet European recovery and recycling targets in 2008.

The government decided to consult on the accreditation rules a result of a number of difficulties identified by reprocessors and exporters (see letsrecycle.com story).

It was feared that the September deadline meant new reprocessing capacity would have to wait up to 16 months for accreditation to come into effect, thereby reducing investment in growing packaging waste recovery rates. The new regulations will allow the Agency to consider accreditation applications as and when they receive them, with accreditation coming into force when an Agency decision is in favour of the applicant.

Of the 55 organisations that responded to Defra's snap consultation on the September accreditation deadline, 91% agreed with the proposal to scrap the deadline. Defra said those that did not agree were mostly those who had applied before the deadline last year and did not see why others should not have to do so as well. About 87% of respondents agreed that accredited reprocessors and exporters should be able to issue PRNs or PERNs from the date of the decision to grant accreditation.

The Producer Responsibility Obligations (Packaging Waste) (Amendment) (England and Wales) Regulations 2005 were laid in Parliament on 17 March and came into force yesterday. Parallel statutory instruments in Scotland and Northern Ireland will follow suit separately.

For any queries on the new regulations, email james.mcnamara@defra.gsi.gov.uk.