New rules and sanctions on packaging and packaging waste 2016

Law no. 249/2015 on the management of packaging and packaging waste represents the new rules regarding waste management. Thus, this law imposes certain requirements regarding the essential nature of unusable or exploitable packaging, manufacture and the composition thereof, equally imposing responsibilities and objectives regarding the collection of waste, as well as setting the penalties for non-compliance with this law.

This being said, his law clarifies the meaning of terms, regulating that, "packaging" is represent by any object, regardless of the material from which it is made or the nature thereof, for retention, protection, handling, distribution and presentation of products, from raw materials to processed products, from the producer to the user or consumer. More, even, the non-refundable object which is intended for the same purpose is also considered packaging.

Regarding the requirements introduced in the annexes of this law, the essential requirements relating to the manufacture and composition of packaging are:

▪ packaging shall be manufactured so that its volume and weight be limited to the minimum necessary to ensure the required level of safety, hygiene and acceptance for both the packaged product and the consumer;

▪ packaging shall be designed, manufactured and marketed in a way to allow reuse or recovery, including recycling, and to minimize the negative environmental impacts;

▪ packaging shall be manufactured aiming at minimizing the content of substances and toxic materials and other hazardous substances in the packaging material and its components, substances which may be present in emissions, ash or leachate resulting from the elimination processes of the packaging waste.

The essential requirements specific to the reusable nature of packaging are well defined, namely:

▪ the physical properties and characteristics of the packaging must allow multiple rotations in normal conditions of intended use;

▪ reused packaging must be prepared, as appropriate, to meet the requirements of health and safety;

▪ the packaging that can not be reused must become  capitalized packaging waste.

What’s more, the essential requirements of capitalized packaging establish that:

▪ packaging must be manufactured so as to allow, when it becomes packaging waste, that a percentage of the weight of materials to be recycled. Setting this percentage may differ depending on the type of material used in the manufacture of packaging;

▪ packaging must be manufactured so as to allow, when it becomes packaging waste, that the packaging waste processed for energy recovery to have a minimum calorific value that allows the optimization of energy recovery;

▪ packaging must be manufactured so as to allow, when it becomes packaging waste, that the packaging waste treated and composted be sufficiently biodegradable;

▪ biodegradable packaging must be manufactured so as to allow, when discarding packaging, a decomposition of physical, chemical, thermal or biological, so most of the material to be converted into carbon dioxide, biomass and water.

Furthermore, these conditions should be considered fulfilled only in case packages are compliant with both the Romanian standards and / or national standards of other Member States of the European Union, which adopt harmonized standards, and by Romanian standards for areas in which European harmonized standards are not adopted.

Regarding the obligations of economic operators, they need to market only packaging of which the sum concentration levels of lead, cadmium, mercury and hexavalent chromium present in packaging or its components does not exceed 100 parts / million by weight, but they also need to use a system of labeling and identification of the packaging in order to improve packaging recovery and recycling of packaging waste and to apply the system of marking and identification required by law.

Also, economic operators that produce reusable packaging own the obligation to comply with the essential requirements regarding reusability of packaging during its manufacturing, so as to allow multiple reuse.

Operators producing or selling products packaged in reusable packaging are obliged to apply the deposit system to ensure an optimum number of cycles of use, while those that manufacture goods packed in reusable packaging shall organize a collection system, with the purpose of multiple packaging for reuse, by operators selling these products or specialized centers for collection of these types of packaging.

Regarding annual targets on recovery or recycling of packaging waste, to be achieved at national level, the legal framework in this matter establishes that these are:

a) recovery or incineration, in waste incineration plants with energy recovery, of at least 60% of the weight of packaging waste;

b) recycling of minimum 55% of the total weight of packaging materials contained in packaging waste, with achieving minimum recycling values ​​for each type of material contained in packaging waste.

The value of these objectives for the recycling of each type of material found in packaging waste are as follows:

a) 60% of the weight for the glass;

b) 60% of the weight for paper / cardboard;

c) 50% of the weight for the metal;

d) 15% of the weight for wood;

e) 22.5% of the weight for plastics, considering only the material that is recycled as plastic.

The penalties for breaching the provisions of this law are represented by fines whose amount varies from 400 lei to 25,000 lei, depending on the seriousness of the offense.

The new law in the matter of the management of packaging and packaging waste contains strict and complex legislative provisions enabling effective management of waste in Romania, in line with European standards and the national ones. If you want to get more information on your obligations in this area as an economic operator, you can contact one of the lawyers within Darie, Manea & associates who will provide legal assistance and representation before the competent authorities when appropriate.

The new legislative norms on fire safety 2016

When it comes to the legislative norms on fire safety standards, 2015 has brought two new regulations in this regard, namely: the Government Decision  no. 915/2015 on establishing the criteria for stopping the operation or use of buildings or facilities determined by serious breaches of fire safety requirements, and GEO 52/2015 amending and supplementing Law no. 307/2006 on fire protection.

The complementary measures regarding the shutdown of the functioning or use of buildings or facilities authorized in terms of fire safety, which spread over an area greater than 200 square meters and have trade, culture and tourism as a destination, will be disposed in the the following cases :

▪ exceeding the number of users for whom the fire security clearance has been given with more than 10%;

▪ exceeding the number of overground levels compared to the reference value which is allowed for buildings with V level of fire stability or degree of fire resistance;

▪ dismantling a means of evacuation in case specific technical regulations require two or more escape routes, according to the reference value;

▪ reducing the height or width of evacuation routes by construction elements, with more than 25% of the reference value, in case the deficiency may not be removed during the inspection;

▪ dismantling of installations or systems of fire extinguishing or detection, signaling and warning of the fire;

▪ dismantling installations or systems of smoke exhaust or security lighting installations for evacuation.

Also, for the constructions or establishments that do not have fire security clearance and whose area covers more than 200 square meters and have trade, culture and tourism as a destination, complementary measures to stop functioning or their use will have on these cases:

▪ exceeding the maximum number of users for bars, clubs and restaurants with more than 10% of the reference value;

▪ exceeding the number of overground levels compared to the reference value allowed for buildings of fire stability level V or degree of fire resistance;

▪ failure to ensure the minimum number of evacuation routes;

▪ reducing the height or width of escape routes by construction elements, with more than 25% of the reference value, in case that the deficiency may not be removed during the inspection;

▪ neechiparea firefighting installations or detection, signaling and warning fire, according to the reference value;

▪ non-equipment with installations, smoke exhaust systems or installation of security lighting for evacuation, according to the reference value;

▪ categories of buildings or facilities that have not been identified at the time of the technical documentation authorizing the construction or the commissioning time.

Shutting down the functioning or use of the constructions or establishments is made until the day of obtaining the fire safety authorization.

This Government Decision regulates the obligation of the competent authorities issuing building permits to provide the inspectorate for emergencies, on request, documents that were the basis of their issuance, including data and information regarding the identification of the construction, the date and the number of the authorization, name of the work performed as well as the date of the technical documentation for authorizing the construction.

The ascertainment of cases relating to overcoming with 10% the number of users for which the authorization has been granted, including in the case of bars, clubs and restaurants, are carried out by the inspectorates for emergency personnel, with the assistance, as appropriate, of the designated personnel of the Romanian Police and the Romanian County Police.

In case of exceeding by more than 10% the number of users for which the fire safety authorization has been granted, the complementary measures of shutting down the functioning or use of buildings or facilities shall be ordered for a period of 60 calendar days from the date of the proceedings regarding the acknowledgement and punishment of the offenses.

GEO 52/2015 expands the attributions of inspectors from the Inspectorate for Emergency Situations in the sense that they can seal the constructions and establishments of the economic operator in the business unit in which the violation of fire safety regulations are acknowledged.

For detailed information on the new Romanian legislation regarding fire safety, please do not hestitate to contact our team of attorneys within the law firm Darie, Manea & associates who will provide specialized legal advice in accordance with the updated legislation in this field of expertise.