Ecocommittee resumes work on the draft law on packaging and its waste

Ecocommittee resumes work on the draft law on packaging and its waste shutterstock
Hanna Velyka

The first version of this legal act was submitted to the Verkhovna Rada almost 2 years ago

The Verkhovna Rada Committee on Environmental Policy and Nature Management has called on stakeholders to participate in the work on the consolidated draft of the Law “On Packaging and Packaging Waste.”

A report on the current status of the preparation of this European integration document appeared on the committee's website under the heading “Top News.”

Two fundamental points are important:

Fact No. 1: The main draft law No. 10066 “On Packaging and Packaging Waste” has been withdrawn and removed from consideration. Reason: the resignation of the government on July 17, because according to Part 3 of Article 105 of the Regulations of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, all draft laws submitted by the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine that have not passed the first reading and have not been adopted as a basis are removed from consideration after the termination of the government's powers.

Since in the fall of 2023, members of parliament submitted alternative bills No. 10066-1 and No. 10066-2, work on adapting Ukrainian legislation to European requirements in the field of packaging and packaging waste will now be carried out on the basis of these bills.

Fact No. 2: Over the course of more than two years of work by Ukrainian MPs on the draft law on packaging, the EU adopted the updated Regulation 2025/40 on packaging and packaging waste (PPWR). It repealed Directive 94/62/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of December 20, 1994, on packaging and packaging waste, on which the approaches and requirements of the relevant draft laws of Ukraine were based.

Therefore, members of the working group on draft laws on packaging and packaging waste, which was created by the eco-committee back in March 2023, will now analyze the new requirements of European Regulation 2025/40 in order to take them into account in the Ukrainian draft law on packaging and packaging waste.

The eco-committee is currently inviting all stakeholders to submit their proposals for draft laws No. 10066-1 and No. 10066-2, which would help implement the requirements of the updated European regulation.

Shortly after the government's resignation, one of Ukraine's leading waste management experts, Oleksandr Lymer, published his comments on the preparation of draft laws on packaging and packaging waste. He criticized the members of the eco-committee, as well as its chairman, Oleg Bondarenko, for failing to finalize and submit the draft law for voting in two years.

"You know, it would have been better if they had failed in the vote than in this way. This is another big disappointment in the actions of our authorities... unfortunately. Do you still believe that with this approach to the implementation of European legislation, Ukraine will integrate into the EU?" he asked.

At the end of April, activists called on the eco-committee to resume work on draft law No. 10066 on packaging waste.

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