Extended producer responsibility for packaging

Producers of single-use plastic packaging are obliged to contribute effectively to achieving the target of reducing litter. The target is to reduce single-use plastic packaging outdoors by 50% until 2030 compared with 2023. This target will be followed up by waste measurements carried out by the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency from 2023 and every other year thereafter. 

Producers of packaging consisting of more than 50% plastic must effectively contribute to the target of using recycled plastic in plastic packaging. By 2030, the packaging must on average consist of at least 30% recycled plastic. 

It is not mandatory to label packaging, but if you choose to label packaging with information about which packaging material has been used, this must be done in accordance with Commission Decision 97/129/EC of 28 January 1997. The Commission's decisions apply in all EU countries. However, some countries have developed national regulations on labelling. It is therefore a good idea for you as a producer to check whether there are national regulations on labelling in the countries where you are a producer.

Commission Decision (97/129/EC) of 28 January 1997 (europa.eu)

In the EU, there are mandatory labelling requirements for cups that are single-use plastic products. These shall be labelled in accordance with Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2020/2151 of 17 December 2020. The purpose of the labelling requirement is to inform consumers about proper handling to reduce littering. The cups must be labelled when they are made available on the Swedish market by a producer. Therefore, remember to ask for labeled cups if you buy cups that are single-use plastic products. It is the producer who is responsible for the cups being labelled. The information message on the label shall be written in the official language or languages of the Member State(s) in which the cup is placed on the market. This means that single-use plastic cups placed on the market in Sweden must be labelled in Swedish.

EU regulation on labelling (EU 2020/2151) and how the label should look like and be placed

From 3 July 2024, your beverage containers must have attached caps and lids throughout use in order for you to be able to make them available on the Swedish market. This requirement applies to beverage containers with caps and lids containing plastic. The requirement is considered to be met if the beverage container complies with the criteria in the harmonized standard SS-EN 17665 or if you can otherwise demonstrate that the beverage container is designed to meet the requirement.

The requirement does not apply to glass or metal beverage containers. Nor does it apply to beverage containers intended for special medical purposes.

Definition of beverage containers

As of 1 January 2025, bottles up to three litres made of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) must contain at least 25% recycled plastic. The calculation of the content of recycled plastic will be made as an average of the content of the bottles that a producer has provided on the Swedish market during a calendar year. In addition to the exemption for bottles with a volume more than three litres, the requirement also does not apply to bottles intended for special medical purposes.

From 2030, the requirement will be extended to all beverage bottles that are a single-use plastic product up to three liters. It must then contain at least 30% recycled plastic in order to be made available on the Swedish market. The recycled plastic content shall be calculated in the same way as was previously done for PET bottles and the same exemptions apply.

If a producer has not hired or provided a producer responsibility organization, an environmental sanction fee of SEK 30,000 may be charged. This applies from 1 January 2024.

If a producer provides a product on the Swedish market without the required label, an environmental sanction fee of SEK 10,000 may be charged.

If a producer provides a beverage container on the Swedish market without being designed with the cork or lid consisting of plastic attached to the container during the entire use, an environmental sanction fee of SEK 10,000 may be charged. This applies from 3 July 2024.

The one who releases a prohibited single-use plastic product on the Swedish market may be required to pay an environmental sanction fee. The size of the environmental sanction fee depends on how many products have been released on the Swedish market: 

• SEK 5,000 if 100 or fewer products have been released. 
• SEK 10,000 if more than 100 but a maximum of 1,000 products have been released. 
• SEK 20,000 if more than 1,000 but a maximum of 20,000 products have been released. 
• SEK 50,000 if more than 20,000 products has been released. 

As of 1 January 2024, single-use cups containing more than 15% plastic are also covered by the environmental sanction fee.

If your company have not complied with the legislation above, this may lead to you having to pay an environmental sanction fee. You will receive a letter from the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency with a proposal for a decision on the environmental sanction fee. We send this letter to you as a notification that we are considering charging an environmental sanction fee.

You then have the opportunity to comment on the proposed decision within the time stated in the letter. This means that you can provide information on why you believe that you should not be charged an environmental sanction fee. A comment can be sent by letter or e-mail.

An environmental sanction fee shall be charged even if the infringement has not taken place intentionally or through negligence. There are certain exceptions, if it is considered unreasonable to charge the sanction fee. These exceptions are described in more detail in Chapter 30 Section 2 of the Environmental Code, see below:

1. illness which has resulted in you not being able on your own or by instructing someone else to do what your duty was,
2. that the infringement was due to a circumstance which could not or should not have been foreseen or which you could not influence,
3. what you have done to prevent an infringement from occurring, or
4. that the infringement has given rise to penalty in accordance with the provisions of Chapter 29.

The environmental sanction fee shall accrue to the Swedish state. Law (2006:1014).

If you choose not to comment, or if the information you provided does not change the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency’s assessment, you will receive a decision on an environmental sanction fee.

The decision contains information on when and how to pay the environmental sanction fee. You pay the environmental sanction fee to Kammarkollegiet (Legal, Financial and Administrative Services Agency) and it accrue to the Swedish state. You will receive the decision together with a service receipt that the authorized person must date, sign and send back to the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency.

You can appeal the decision within three weeks from the day you received the decision.