Official Gazette Issue: 30283
REGULATION
From the Ministry of Environment and Urbanization:
REGULATION ON THE CONTROL OF PACKAGING WASTE
PART ONE
Objective, Scope, Legal Basis, and Definitions
Objective
ARTICLE 1 – (1) The objective of this Regulation is to determine the legal, administrative, and technical principles, policies, programs, and procedures aimed at:
a) The production of packaging with specific environmental criteria, basic conditions, and characteristics,
b) The prevention of packaging waste generation, and the reduction of the amount of unavoidable packaging waste to be disposed of by utilizing reuse, recycling, and recovery methods,
c) The prevention of direct or indirect discharge of packaging waste into the receiving environment in a manner that harms the environment,
d) The establishment of technical and administrative standards for the separate accumulation at source, collection, transportation, separation, and recycling of packaging waste within a specific management system.
PART TWO
General Principles, Duties, Authorities, and Obligations
General Principles
ARTICLE 5 – (1) The principles regarding the management of packaging waste are specified below:
a) In line with the principles of conservation of natural resources, sustainable environment, and sustainable development, it is essential to prevent the generation of packaging waste in order to ensure production and reduce the amount of waste. In cases where production is unavoidable, it is essential primarily to reuse, recycle, recover, and utilize it as an energy source.
b) To control the consumption of single-use packaging and its waste, it is essential to prefer packaging suitable for reuse primarily.
c) The direct or indirect discharge of packaging waste into the receiving environment and its disposal by landfilling in sanitary landfills is prohibited.
ç) The person or persons, institutions, and organizations responsible for the management of packaging and packaging waste are obliged to take the necessary measures to reduce the potential harmful effects of these wastes on the environment and human health.
d) If deemed necessary by the Ministry, the relevant parties are obliged to have their notifications and the documents underlying these notifications audited by independent audit firms under this Regulation and to submit the audit report to the Ministry.
e) Regardless of the material used and its source of generation, packaging waste must be accumulated separately from other wastes at the point of origin to reduce environmental pollution, maximize the utilization of landfill facilities, and contribute to the economy.
f) To establish a sound recycling/recovery system, it is essential to accumulate packaging waste separately at the source and collect it separately. However, wastes deemed appropriate by the Ministry to be accumulated in the same accumulation equipment as packaging waste at waste reception centers may be accumulated and collected together with packaging waste.
g) Expenses incurred for remedying any environmental damage arising from the management of packaging waste shall be covered by the real and/or legal persons responsible for the management of such waste, within the framework of the principle of joint and several liability.
ğ) Packaging waste processing facilities that conduct or wish to conduct packaging waste collection, separation, recycling, and recovery activities are required to obtain an environmental license.
h) Preparing for reuse activities, whereby packaging waste is brought back to its designed state through cleaning, repair, or inspection processes, shall be carried out in accordance with the provisions specified in the Waste Management Regulation.
ı) Packaging waste for which material recycling is not economically viable or cannot be achieved shall be processed for energy recovery.
i) Following the consumption of single-use packaging, it is essential to include it in the recycling/recovery process.
j) It is essential to carry out prevention activities to reduce the quantity of substances contained in packaging and packaging waste, as well as their environmental harm, by developing clean products and technologies. This scope applies from the design stage of the packaging through its production, marketing, distribution, use, becoming waste, and disposal. For this purpose, the heavy metal content and the unit weight of the packaging to be produced must be minimized in a way that does not disrupt the function of the packaging and does not adversely affect the required level of health, hygiene, and safety.
k) Packaging waste collected in accordance with the system defined in this Regulation must be delivered to environmentally licensed packaging waste processing facilities.
