The Russian Federation was often criticized for its inefficient municipal solid waste treatment which caused negative environmental impact and lead to insufficient use of raw materials and energy.
Therefore, at the end of the year 2014 the long awaited significant changes to the legislation governing waste management were introduced. These amendments entered into force in January 2015 and require importers and manufacturers of goods to provide for recycling, salvage, reclamation, and disposal of waste generated from use thereof. To effectively implement Article 24.2 of the amended Law on Waste Production and Consumption, a List of specific goods and packaging material subject to recycling, normative recycling standards and reporting procedure, as well as other implementing rules were proposed by the Government.
The Government was further entrusted with the duty to draw up mandatory recycling target for each waste/product stream as a percentage of the overall quantity of goods put on the market for internal consumption on the Russian territory during a given calendar year, depending on the mass/weight of the finished products or the number of units thereof, or the mass/weight of the packaging used for the production of such goods as per Article 24.2.12 of the Law.
Obligated parties must ensure the proper implementation of recycling targets and practices through either organizing their own infrastructure, a.k.a. their individual waste collection, processing, and recycling or by signing contracts with municipal solid waste removal contractors. In addition, the obligations of importers and manufactures may be met through the creation of a corresponding association of manufacturers and importers (collective system).
Yet another welcomed development in the area of waste management was the introduction of the environmental levy classified as non-tax state budgetary revenue, which is aimed at those parties who fail to provide for appropriate recycling and waste disposal in accordance with the requirements of the amended Law on Waste Production and Consumption.
The Levy was approved by passing of the Resolution No 1073/2015 in force since October 17, 2015 that specifies the details on the calculation of the fee, based on either the weight or number of units of finished goods placed on the national market, or the weight of consumer packaging for such goods versus the amount [recycled], deadlines for payment of the fee where applicable and further provisions on applying for the return or offsetting of overpaid amounts.
The first installment of the environmental tax covering the first 9 months of 2015 was payable on October 15, 2015, with fees for October, November, December 2015 falling due on February 1, 2016. Commencing in 2017 the charge will be payable annually by April 15 of the year following the reporting period.
Article 8 addresses charges for manufacturers or importers who have made a commitment to self-disposal but who have only partially achieved targets set.
Although the changes represent significant improvement of the prior approach to the waste management in the Russian Federation, the amended Law seems to only employ a comparably small range of manners for dealing with waste. It remains to be seen how successful this technique will prove to be when all the implementing legal instruments are properly adopted and applied.
References:
1. Environmental, Russia, Legal Alert from Baker & McKenzie -
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