Function of the IRPC
The activities of the Interregional Packaging Commission can be divided into two key areas. The main one relates to the prevention and management of packaging waste, the other to the processing of notifications of waste shipments transiting Belgium.
1. Prevention and management of packaging waste
On 20 December 1994 the European Parliament published Directive 94/62/EC, which set out the obligation for all Member States of the European Union to provide a legal framework to harmonise the management and prevention of packaging waste within Europe.
In Belgium, this legal framework is provided by the Cooperation Agreement, a legal document stipulating how Belgium will implement the European Directive.
The IRPC is responsible for ensuring proper compliance with the Cooperation Agreement.
The specific tasks of the IRPC include the following:
- Monitoring whether companies (parties responsible for packaging, aka “responsible companies”) and accredited compliance organisations are fulfilling their reporting obligation and take-back (i.e. recycling and recovery) obligation.
- Checking the way in which the responsible companies and accredited compliance organisations meet their statutory recycling and recovery targets (expressed as a percentage).
- Approving or rejecting prevention plans of companies (responsible companies).
- Granting or refusing accreditation to the organisations responsible for the promotion, coordination and financing of selective collection, recycling and recovery of packaging waste.
- Assisting and advising the regional governments, for example by creating consultative forums, providing logistical support or proposing legislative amendments.
- Conducting or commissioning studies and research into the management and prevention of packaging waste.
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More about the Cooperation Agreement on the prevention and management of packaging waste.
2. Waste transit
Following the sixth constitutional reform, the IRPC has also been the Belgian waste transit authority since 1 January 2015. Its role is to process notifications from carriers transiting Belgium to transport waste that does not originate from Belgium and will not be processed there.
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Further information about waste transit