S.L. 549.175 Art. 4Extended producer responsibility. S.L.549.141.       S.L. 549.149.            S.L. 549.141.         S.L. 549.149.

(1) Producers placing the single-use plastic products listed in Schedule 1 on the market in Malta shall have extended producer responsibility in accordance with the Extended Producer Responsibility Framework Regulations.

(2) Producers established in another European Union Member State and placing such single-use plastic products on the market in Malta shall appoint a legal or natural person established in Malta as an authorised representative for the purposes of fulfilling the extended producer responsibility obligations established in these regulations on the territory of Malta: Provided that such appointment shall be made by written mandate by means of a declaration as set out in Schedule 2.

(3) Producers established in Malta who sell such single-use plastic products in another Member State in which such producer is not established, shall appoint an authorised representative in that other Member State. The authorised representative shall be the person responsible for fulfilling the obligations of such producer on the territory of that other Member State in accordance with the national legislation of the said Member State implementing the Directive.

(4) Producers of the single-use plastic products listed in

Schedule 1 shall cover at least the following costs:

(a) the costs of awareness raising measures set out in regulation 12 of the Single-Use Plastic Framework Regulations;

(b) the costs of cleaning up litter resulting from such products and the subsequent transport and treatment of such litter;

(c) the costs of data gathering and reporting in accordance with regulation 6(3)(a)(iii) of the Extended

Producer Responsibility Framework Regulations; and

(d) the costs of waste collection for such products that are discarded in public collection systems, including the infrastructure and its operation, and the subsequent transport and treatment of such waste. The costs may include the setting up of specific infrastructure for the waste collection for those products, such as appropriate waste receptacles in common litter hotspots.

(5) In order to achieve the objectives of this regulation in a cost-effective manner, producers and authorised representatives shall fulfil their extended-producer responsibility obligations collectively and, to that end, shall set up a producer responsibility organisation which shall be authorised in accordance with regulation 7, covering the single-use plastic products listed in Schedule 1 and the whole territory of Malta. Such producer responsibility organisation shall permit all producers and authorised representatives fulfil their extended-producer responsibility obligations under non-discriminatory conditions:

Provided that if:

(a) such PRO is not set up and authorised in accordance with regulation 7 within six (6) months from the coming into force of these regulations; or

(b) the authorisation of an authorised PRO is revoked (TOBACCO FILTERS CONTAINING PLASTIC)

and no new PRO is set up and authorised in accordance with regulation 7 within a period of six (6) months from the decision to revoke the authorisation is notified by the Authority; or

(c) the authorised PRO fails to cover the costs referred to in sub-regulation (4) on behalf of its members, the Authority may allocate the costs referred to in sub-regulation (4) to producers in accordance with the requirements of this regulation and their market share. In such cases, the Authority may commission studies at the expense of producers, to quantify such costs or part thereof:

Provided further that the Authority may extend the six (6) month period by a maximum of an additional six (6) months.

(6) In order to cover the costs referred to in paragraph (a) of sub-regulation (4) on behalf of its producers, an authorised producer responsibility organisation shall organise and, or finance effective information and awareness raising campaigns to incentivise responsible consumer behaviour and inform consumers in accordance with regulation 12 of the Single-Use Plastic Framework Regulations:

Provided that in case an authorised producer responsibility organisation finances campaigns organised by other entities, the costs that shall be covered by such organisation shall be established in a transparent manner between all actors concerned:

Provided further that such campaigns shall be subject to the prior approval of the Authority.

(7) In order to cover the costs established in paragraphs (b) and (d) of sub-regulation (4) on behalf of its producer, an authorised producer responsibility organisation shall make the necessary arrangements with the Division and the Department, through written agreements for:

(a) the financing of appropriate waste receptacles for the single-use plastic products listed in Schedule 1 in the territory of Malta, particularly in common litter hotspots, which costs shall include the infrastructure and its operation, and the subsequent transport and treatment of such waste; and

(b) the financing of cleaning up litter resulting from the single-use plastic products listed in Schedule 1 and the subsequent transport and treatment of such litter:

Provided that such written agreements shall inter alia establish the terms for the execution of the payments of those financial contributions by an authorised producer responsibility organisation. The said terms shall be duly notified to the Authority within one (1) month following the conclusion of the said written agreements.

(8) The costs referred to in sub-regulation (7) shall not exceed the costs that are necessary to provide those services in a cost-efficient way and shall be established in a transparent way between the Authority, the relevant authorised producer responsibility organisation, the Division and, or the Department, and any other actors concerned:

Provided that the costs referred to in sub-regulation (7)(b) shall be limited to the activities undertaken by the Local Councils, the Division or on their behalf:

Provided further that the calculation methodology shall be developed in a way that allows for the costs of cleaning up litter to be established in a proportionate way, shall take into consideration the proposals for the calculation of such costs submitted to the Authority in accordance with regulation 7 and any guidelines published by the European Commission in accordance with Article 8(4) of the Directive.

(9) To minimise administrative costs, the Authority in consultation with the actors referred to in sub-regulation (8) may determine financial contributions towards the costs of cleaning up litter by setting appropriate multi-annual fixed amounts.