The Ministry of Economic Development (Ministry of Economic Development) has proposed to postpone by two years the entry into force of the extended producer responsibility reform (EPR), under which companies are obliged to recycle goods and packaging and pay the environmental fee, writes RBC.

According to the ministry, the planned start date of the reform - January 1, 2022 - "seems unrealizable," so it is advisable to introduce a phased transition period of at least two years, taking into account the revision of the essential part of its provisions and "objective assessment of the feasibility factor. This time will allow to test the Single State Information System of Waste Management before making it compulsory to enter information about the sold goods into it, to estimate budget expenses on administration and checking the reports and also it will give the business an opportunity of smooth transition and incentives to involve recyclable materials in their products, the department believes.

The department came to such conclusions after analyzing comments from companies, industry associations and business unions, as well as authorities of some regions, including the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs, Opora Rossii, LUKOIL, Surgutneftegaz, Gazprom Neft, Sibur, Norilsk Nickel and PepsiCo.

There was also a legal reason for the conclusions: in order for a document containing new standards for the disposal of products and packaging to take effect on January 1, 2022, it must be published at least three months beforehand, that is, no later than September 30, but it has not yet been approved by the government.

Thus, the Ministry of Economic Development asked to postpone the start of the reform from 2022 to 2024.

Recall that under the current version of the EPR, Russian companies must implement 100% recycling of packaging by early 2022. At the same time, the eco-tax will be gradually increased by 10% per year. It is planned to create a Unified State Information System for Waste from Product Use to control the payment of the eco-tax.

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Author: Karina Kamalova