The Knesset Economic Affairs Committee has approved the Waste Packaging Bill, submitted by the Ministry of Environmental Protection (MEP) in Israel, for the second and third reading that will regulate the treatment of packaging in Israel.
The law is based on the principle of extended producer responsibility, whereby the manufacturer or importer is responsible for the collection and recycling of the packaging they produce or import for sale in Israel and for their full cost.
The law is expected to minimize the quantity of packaging waste and the consequent generation of packaging waste and encourage reuse, recycling and reduction of waste transferred for landfilling.
The producers will be required to recycle 60% of the total weight of the packaging of products including paper, glass, plastic and metal they sell or import each year and financial sanction for non-compliance with the recycling targets is ILS2,500 for every ton for which a violation is committed.
MEP will finance the establishment of waste sorting and recycling infrastructure in all local authorities for the separation of waste into two streams (wet and dry), in addition to prohibiting all landfilling of packaging waste by January 2020 as per the law.
Environmental Protection Minister Gilad Erdan said that the implementation of the law will add thousands of workplaces to the economy, and will allow the general public to take an active part in the recycling process, by means of separation of waste into different bins.