THE ENVIRONMENTAL REGISTER OF PACKAGING PYR LTD

WHAT IS THE BENEFIT TO A FIRM OF MEMBERSHIP IN PYR?
Firms with a turnover of EUR 1m or more that have packed their products or have imported packed products are required by law to attend to the recovery of the products’ packaging they have placed on the market. By making a contract with PYR a firm transfers the abovementioned obligation to the producer organisations in the field of packaging. A firm that does not make a contract with PYR has to attend to the recovery of packaging itself at its own cost. However, the organisation of recovery by an individual firm is only possible in special cases. A firm not enrolled with PYR reports to Centre for Economic Development, Transport and the Environment for Pirkanmaa on how it attends to its recovery obligation. Packaging recovery comprises:

• the recovery of packaging as raw material to make new products
• the recovery of packaging as energy.

The recovery of packaging does not comprise:

• the delivery of packaging to collection or sorting centres. Mere sorting is not adequate. Packaging waste should be recovered as new raw material or as energy. Only in these circumstances it is recovered in the manner prescribed by law.

WHY DOES PYR NEED TO CHARGE ANNUAL FEES?
PYR needs the money collected through annual fees to be able to take care of its tasks. Among other things these tasks comprise:

• making contracts with firms with a packaging recovery obligation
• the registration of firms and upkeep of the register
• the compilation of statistics of packaging quantities and materials reported by registered firms
• protecting the interests of packers
• invoicing recovery fees and the remittance of these funds to the producer organisations
• the preparation of packaging recovery statistics to be submitted to the EU and reporting the same to the authorities
• the provision of information and advice and customer service, such as the PYR Info magazine three times per year and the website www.pyr.fi
• conducting negotiations with the authorities
• monitoring events in the field at home and abroad.

WHAT DOES A FIRM GET FOR THE REGISTRATION AND ANNUAL FEES AND ANY POSSIBLE RECOVERY FEES?
By making a contract with PYR a firm transfers the recovery obligation for the packaging of its products to producer organisations. Having done that, the firm does not have to organise the recovery of the packaging itself at its own cost or to report to the authorities on how it is attending to its recovery obligation. A firm registered with PYR receives, for instance, the PYR Info magazine three times per year, the right to use the PYR trademark and an annual certificate attesting to its registration. PYR also protects the interests of packers, for example, in negotiations with the authorities.

WHICH YEAR’S TURNOVER IS USED AS THE BASIS OF PYR’S ANNUAL FEE?
The latest adopted turnover that the firm has reported to PYR. PYR annually requests information and any changes in turnover affect the annual fee for the following year. Consequently, the annual fee for the present year is based on the turnover in PYR’s register at the end of the previous year.