European Standards Organization’s standard on basic requirements for packaging wasteAt present, EU countries are in a wait-and-see attitude towards the implementation of basic requirements for packaging. The various standards formulated by the European standards organization CEN for use in the EU Packaging Directive include a total of six standards numbered EN13427:2000~EN13432. in
EN 13427 is a standard that explains the correlation between the five standards EN13428-13432 (similar to ISO14000)
EN 13428 Standard for prevention of product weight loss in packaging
EN 13429 is the standard for reusable packaging
EN 13430 is the standard for packaging material recycling
EN 13431 is the standard for energy recovery of packaging materials
EN 13432 is the standard for organic recycling of packaging materials.
Among these standards, EN 13428 is directly related to the source reduction of packaging waste.
EN 13428 standard introduction This standard uses a manufacturer self-assessment approach similar to the ISO 9000 and ISO 14000 series standards to prove whether the packaging system used uses the least amount of materials, is recyclable and meets toxic substance content regulations.
The standard content of EN 13428:2000 includes two parts: prevention through source reduction and qualitative prevention. Prevention through source reduction refers to minimizing the weight and/or volume of packaging; qualitative prevention refers to minimizing the content of toxic and hazardous substances. The necessary requirement to judge whether the first part of the EN 13428 standard is met is whether one or more critical areas can be identified from the ten areas listed in the standard that can affect whether the source reduction work can reach the limit. ). In other words, if further efforts are made to reduce packaging in this area, it will be impossible to achieve the performance standards in the ten areas required for packaging. The ten areas listed in the standard are:
1. Product protection
2. Packaging manufacturing process
3. Packaging/filling procedures
4. Logistics (including transportation, warehousing and handling)
5. Product display and marketing
6. User/consumer acceptance
7. Information
8. Security
9. Regulations
10. Other related issues If the user of this standard cannot identify any of the above areas as critical, it means that there are potential opportunities to further reduce packaging, and therefore this standard cannot be met. On the other hand, if it is tested that further reduction in the number of packages would result in an unacceptable package failure rate, then the critical point of packaging minimization has been reached.
Opinions from all walks of life in the EU on EN 13428
The EN 13428 standard has mixed reviews from all walks of life in the European Union. The industry believes that this standard is voluntary and has flexibility in implementation, so it is more positive. Some environmental groups and government officials believe that this voluntary management system lacks clear judgment standards and will be difficult to implement. The representative views of this standard from standards organizations, industry groups and consumer groups are listed below:
Views from consumer groups
Consumer groups believe that EN 13428 is a self-assessment management system similar to ISO 9000 or ISO 14000. It only proposes various aspects that should be taken into consideration, requiring suppliers to conduct their own assessment of key areas where packaging reduction activities can be carried out, and provide evidence that they have been Comply with standard requirements. Since this standard does not propose defined performance criteria, it will be difficult for suppliers and possibly audit/verification organizations to confirm whether the requirements of the standard have been met.
Industry perspective
The views of relevant industries, including those of packaging product manufacturers and EUROPEN, are explained as follows:
Opinions of packaging product manufacturers and sellers
The industry believes that the critical areas referred to in the EN 13428 standard refer to the ten areas listed in the standard that have been identified by product suppliers as areas where further packaging reduction may be carried out, such as among the products. Protected areas. To comply with the EN 13428 standard, suppliers not only need to identify this critical area, but also must prove that appropriate reduction measures have been taken in this area.
During the draft review stage of EN 13428, the Austrian Standards Organization proposed that the ratio of the surface area of product packaging to the volume of the packaged product should not exceed 3.2. However, representatives from other countries believed that this single ratio did not cover all packaging types and failed to take into account other considerations in the EU Packaging Waste Directive, so it was not adopted.
Since EN 13428 is still in the revision stage, currently only France and the United Kingdom among EU countries have formulated national regulations to implement the "Essential Requirements" for packaging in the EU Packaging Waste Directive. In both countries, manufacturers can demonstrate compliance with these regulations by demonstrating compliance with EN 13428.
At present, EN 13428:2004 has been published in July 2004. EN 13428:2004 Comparison of the differences between the new version of the standard and the old version of 2000. The old version of the standard emphasizes the use of quantitative prevention methods to ensure that the weight and volume of packaging are at the minimum value for safety and consumer acceptance; qualitative prevention methods , are only mentioned in the appendix. The new version of the standard gives equal emphasis to qualitative and quantitative prevention methods. The old version of the standard only stipulates that substances that are intentionally added need to be minimized; the new version stipulates that the presence of hazardous substances needs to be measured and minimized at the same time, regardless of whether their source is intentionally added. Users of standards need to decide (with the assistance of material safety data sheets) whether hazardous substances (those classified as N in the EU Directive) introduced during the manufacturing process are present in packaging put on the market. If any such substance exists, the user of the standard must assess the possibility of its release into the environment; if it is likely to be released into the environment, the user of the standard must maintain records to demonstrate the use of such substance. The quantities used are minimum quantities within the stated performance criteria. The new standard also adds an appendix that provides a decision tree approach to minimize and demonstrate compliance with this substance. When the old version of the standard was published, only the first part for heavy metals in CEN-CR 13695 - Requirements for Measurement and Verification of Heavy Metals and Other Hazardous Substances in Packaging had been published; currently, the second part for other hazardous substances has also been published. It has been published and updated according to the new version of the standard.
The adoption of the basic requirements regulations used by the European Union and the application of the EN 13428 standard should be sufficient to control excessively packaged gift boxes and other products in Taiwan.
EUROPEN’s views on EN13428
EUROPEN (European Organization for Packaging and the Environment), the EU's packaging industry group, has also adopted EN 13428 to encourage the packaging industry to comply with the EN 13428 standard on its own, and has launched a guideline to guide the industry. This organization belongs to the EU packaging industry industry association, representing the interests of the industry and reflecting the opinions of the industry.
The main reason why the organization promotes members to adopt the EN 13428 standard is that the standard adopts a voluntary environmental management system approach, which allows businesses to have more operational flexibility. Preventing the generation of packaging waste is an irreversible trend. If the industry is unwilling to adopt a voluntary management approach, EU governments will turn to the command-and-control control approach advocated by environmental groups (such as specifying the surface area of packaging). / volume ratio), I am afraid it will have a greater impact on the industry.
Standards organizations’ views on EN13428
The EU standards launched by CEN are voluntary agreements, and any group has the right to adopt or ignore them. Therefore, the adoption of CEN standards is usually an agreement between business partners that agree to abide by each other.
However, if CEN obtains a mandate from the European Commission, it can also introduce mandatory standards. These standards are called "harmonized standards." For the business community, these unified standards have higher compliance obligations than general voluntary standards, because compliance with this set of standards means compliance with relevant EU directives (such as the EU Packaging and Packaging Waste Directive). Of course, businesses may not adopt unified standards and use other methods to prove compliance with national laws (EU countries implementing EU directives), but generally it is simpler to adopt unified standards.
The EN 13428:2000 standard is currently only a general voluntary standard, so this set of modification and approval procedures is required. Once this process is completed, the new version of the standard will be accepted by the EU Executive Committee and the referenced standard will be published in the European Journal and become the unified standard for assessing compliance with the Packaging Directive.
According to the current application architecture of the EN 13428:2000 standard, it is indeed very difficult to verify its compliance. The responsibility for meeting these requirements lies with the individual company, as the standard only requires companies to self-assess and self-declare. The control mechanism for standard implementation relies on market functions, that is, observation of competitors. The key to the implementation of EN 13428 is to identify key areas and carry out packaging reduction activities in these areas. It is assumed that the packaging designer has used the best available technology to design packaging that conforms to existing industry practices. When applying EN 13428, you first need to consider the feasibility of minimizing packaging based on the 10 performance areas listed in the standard, and then identify an area that is most likely to limit its continued reduction activities. For critical areas, such as computer monitor logistics/transportation projects. Thereafter, tests or calculations should be used (for example, a drop test to find the acceptable thickness of the thinnest corrugated cardboard) to prove that the packaging has been minimized (i.e. it would not be possible to use thinner cardboard). Requirements for safe handling). Record the results of this minimization process (such as the degree of minimization, reduced packaging volume/weight, reasons why reduction cannot continue, etc.). These document records will become the supporting documents for applying for EN 13428 standard verification.
CEN believes that this self-assessment approach may provide an opportunity for industries to find innovative solutions to reduce packaging waste. Otherwise, governments will be forced to publish unrealistic waste reduction targets or indicators to promote Packaging reduction work.
However, even within the European Commission, this self-evaluation process has not been fully accepted, and the views of various countries on this set of standards are also worthy of consideration. Once a unified set of standards cannot be produced within the EU, countries will be forced to adopt different domestic measures, causing chaos in the single EU market system. If considered from this point of view, even a set of ordinary EU voluntary standards can serve as the basis for national administrative measures, rather than leaving each country to do its own thing.
comprehensive view
Based on the above views, although some consumer groups do not agree with the use of EN13428. However, industry groups generally agree with the use of EN13428 management methods, and this is currently the only approach that can gain more consensus in the EU region. Therefore, once this series of standards is published, it should be followed and adopted by all walks of life.
After CEN completes the announcement of packaging standards and the dust settles, as long as the packaging of products marketed in the EU market must comply with the "basic requirements" of the EU Packaging Directive. Since the adoption of CEN standards is voluntary, manufacturers do not necessarily have to use CEN standards to prove compliance with basic requirements. They can also choose other methods. However, adopting CEN standards will make it easier to obtain recognition.
Progress of formulation/modification of packaging series standards
After the five standards EN 13428-EN 13432 were published in 2000, CEN requested the EU to announce these standards as reference standards for the implementation of the Packaging Directive. However, due to the opposition of some member states, the European Commission only agreed to announce the two standards EN 13428 and EN 13432 while retaining some provisions. The rest of the standards will have to be modified.
The retained part of EN 13428:2000 is the toxic substance part, at least the material part does not need to be modified. Therefore, if a manufacturer complies with the requirements of EN 13428:2000, EU countries must accept that the minimized part of their packaging meets the basic requirements of this part of the EU Packaging Directive.
The European Standards Organization (CEN) has completed the revision of the following five standards and published them in July 2004: EN 13427:2004: Packaging - Requirements for the use of European standards in the field of packaging and packaging waste
EN 13428:2004: Packaging - Special requirements for manufacturing and composition - Prevention through source reduction EN 13429:2004: Packaging - Requirements for related materials and types of reusable packaging
EN 13430:2004: Packaging - Requirements for packaging capable of material recovery
EN 13431:2004: Packaging - Requirements for packaging that can be recycled in energy form (including requirements for minimum caloric value)
In addition, EN 13432:2000: Requirements for packaging that can be recycled through composting and biodegradation - Test plan and evaluation criteria for final acceptance of packaging, was published in 2000 and has not been affected by this revision. Among these six standards, EN13427 is called the "Umbrella Standard" and covers and serves as a guide for the use of the other five standards. The original EN13427 standard did not have a mandatory guidance function, but it has this nature after the revision. In other words, unless the standard user can meet the EN 13428 prevention standard and one or more recycling standards, it will not be able to meet the requirements of EN 13427.
Data source: Reprinted from Internet data
