Government Emergency Ordinance no. 125/2022 for the amendment and supplementing of the Government Emergency Ordinance no. 196/2005 regarding the Environmental Fund

On 20 September, Government Emergency Ordinance was published in the Official Gazette no. 125/2022 amending and supplementing the Government Emergency Ordinance no. 196/2005 regarding the Environmental Fund.

Among the most important changes of the Emergency Ordinance, we mention the following:

Packaging and packaging waste (starting on 1 January 2023):

• the contribution of 2 Ron/kg will be due for the difference between the quantities corresponding to the minimum objectives of recovery or incineration in incineration plants with energy recovery and recovery through recycling and the amounts actually recovered or incinerated in incineration plants with energy recovery and recovered by recycling;
• the contribution of 2 Ron/kg, owed by with the authorized economic operators for the implementation of extended producer liability (“OIREP”), will be paid for the difference between the amounts of waste corresponding to the established annual objectives and the amounts actually utilized, within the limit of the guarantee provided by the Law no. 249/2015, at this moment in the amount of two Ron million;
• economic operators who concluded contracts with OIREP and they did not fulfill the objectives provided by the law, will pay the related contribution of 2 Ron/kg after the execution of the guarantee, based on a decision issued by the AFM;
• economic operators who carry out collection, recovery, sanitation or brokerage activities and report waste to OIREP constitute a guarantee in the amount of Ron 500,000, in the form of a cash deposit or a bank guarantee letter.

Ecotax (starting from 1 January 2023):

• household bags introduced on the national market by economic operators will be exempted from the payment of the ecotax, bearing with the phrase «household bags»;
•  marking transport bags that do not fall into the category of household bags, with the phrase «household bags», constitutes a contravention and will be sanctioned with a fine from Ron 40,000 to Ron 50,000;
• economic operators will declare quarterly the number of transport bags, each of their component materials, as well and the wall thickness of the respective bags.

Electrical and electronic equipment – “EEE” (starting from 1 January 2023)

• the methodology for setting up and managing the financial guarantee for EEE producers and for collective organizations will be modified and established by an order proposed by the AFM;
• the contribution of EEE from category 3 (lamps) will change, from 20 RON/kg to 8 RON/kg.

The SIATD informatic application

• it is use also by economic operators who transport transboundary waste for recovery in Romania;
• starting from 1 January  2023:
  • in addition to packaging waste, the application will also be used by the OIREP that manage used tires and that manage portable batteries and accumulators, as well as EEE;
  • the amounts of packaging waste that are not found in the SIATD informatic application will not be considered when achieving the minimum waste management objectives.
• starting from 1 January 2024:
  • it will also be used by legal entities that manage municipal waste;
  • the amounts of tire waste, EEE, batteries and portable accumulators that are not found in the SIATD informatic application will not be considered when achieving the minimum waste management objectives.
• non-use of the SIATD informatic application by the above-mentioned economic operators is a contravention and will be fined from 80,000 Ron to 100,000 Ron, and reporting false data is a contravention and will be fined from Ron 200,000  to Ron 250,000.

For more details, please consult the Official Gazette no. 922 published on September 20, 2022.

The EY team is available for further details on the above.