• About
• Plastic from households
• Beverage cartons
• Carton packaging
• Plastic from industry
• Green dot members

• Background
• Our stakeholders

Background

In response to increasing problems with the landfilling of waste throughout Europe, the EU adopted the so-called Packaging Directive in 1994. The underlying principle of the Directive is that the polluter - meaning the industry - pays.

Ambitious targets for the reduction of waste and for increased recovery and recycling led to high environmental taxes for trade and industry in many countries.

That same year the Norwegian authorities proposed introducing a national environmental tax on packaging, at an estimated cost of two to three billion NOK per year. Following negotiations between the business community and the authorities, the proposal was dropped on condition that the business community pledged to meet certain recovery and recycling targets.

Based on agreements between the various sectors and the Ministry of the Environment, material organisations were established for each packaging material. Each material organisation is responsible for recovery and recycling facilities for used packaging.

The costs arising from this activity are covered by a membership fee, paid by the Norwegian companies. The level of the fee depends on the volume and the type of packaging that each company places in the market.

Initially, each material organisation collected the fees as well as establishing and operating recovery and recycling facilities.

Grønt Punkt Norge was established in 1997 and took over responsibility for handling the fees. That enabled the material organisations to focus on the recycling arrangements, while businesses benefited from having a single contact point for fee-declaration for all packaging materials.

New agreements 21 March 2003

In 2003 the Environment Ministry agreed new material agreements for the collection and recovery/recycling of packaging, extending their scope to cover chemicals and hazardous substances.

New agreements for:

• Beverage carton
• Lightweight board
• Corrugated board
• Metal
• Plastic