Roles in packaging extended producer responsibility and the definition of producer

The PPWR Regulation introduces changes to the extended producer responsibility of certain types of packaging. In general, the aim is to identify one producer for each packaging item who is responsible for the costs of recycling the packaging in the EU Member State where it is expected to become waste.

The producer is determined on a case-by-case basis according to who makes the packaging available on the market for the first time in a Member State. In Finland, the producer responsible for extended producer responsibility is one of the following operators:

• An importer established in Finland that imports a packaged product or an empty service, transport or primary production packaging and is not the end user.
• A distance seller established outside Finland that makes a packaged product or an empty service, transport or primary production packaging available to a Finnish end user.
• A manufacturer established in Finland that makes a packaged product or an empty service, transport or primary production packaging available on the market.
• A company that commissions the design or manufacture of packaging or a packaged product bearing its own name or trademark (excluding micro-enterprises with fewer than 10 employees and with an annual turnover or balance sheet total below EUR 2 million).
• If no producer meeting the above definitions can be identified for the packaging, the producer may be a company that unpacks a packaged product without being the end user.

A manufacturer is an operator that manufactures or has a packaging or packaged product manufactured. A manufacturer and a producer are different roles and are not always the same operator. While the producer is responsible for extended producer responsibility obligations, the manufacturer is responsible for the product’s compliance with the requirements.

• The manufacturer of sales packaging and grouped packaging (excluding service and primary production packaging) is generally the operator that finalises and fills the packaging in order to place it on the market.
• The manufacturer of transport, service and primary production packaging is generally the operator that physically manufactures the packaging, unless the packaging is another party’s branded packaging.
• If packaging consists of several components, extended producer responsibility may apply to the manufacturer or importer of an individual component, as assembling the packaging does not transfer responsibility.
• The interpretation of extended producer responsibility for certain packaging components (such as tapes and labels) is still under development.

An importer is an operator established in the European Union that places on the market packaging originating from outside the EU.

A distributor is an operator other than a manufacturer or importer that makes packaging available on the market, such as a wholesaler or retailer. A distributor must, for its part, ensure that the packaging complies with the requirements of the Regulation.

An end user is a consumer or a company that does not place the packaged product it has acquired on the market in the same form.

• A foreign distance seller is responsible for the packaging it makes available to the end user.
• A company established in Finland is responsible if it is not the end user of the product but makes it available further on the market in the same form.
• If a company established in Finland does NOT make the product available further on the market in the same form, but uses it as a raw material or component for its own product, it is the end user of the product and therefore not responsible for extended producer responsibility for the product packaging.
  Example:
  A Finnish bakery orders flour from abroad and uses it to bake bread for sale. Since the bakery does not place the flour on the market in the same form, it is the end user of the flour – and the extended producer responsibility for the flour packaging lies with the German distance seller.
• The end user refers to the end user of the packaged product, not the packaging itself.
  Example:
  A Finnish café orders cups, i.e. service packaging, from a Swedish packaging wholesaler. The end user of the packaged product is, for example, the consumer buying coffee, and the café is responsible for the cups as their importer.
• A company is considered an importer even when it repacks the product.
  Example:
  A Finnish company orders pipe sections from a foreign wholesaler in boxes containing 10 pieces. The company removes the pipes from the packaging and resells them individually. As the importer, the company is responsible for both the original boxes and the packaging into which it repacks the products.

If no other producer can be identified for the packaging, extended producer responsibility may also apply to a company that unpacks a packaged product without being the end user.

This definition applies only if the packaging does not have a producer responsible for it as a manufacturer, importer or distance seller. In such cases, the operator is typically a logistics company.