ABSTRACT
This chapter examines packaging waste legislation in the various Member States, prior to the enactment of the Directive and discusses the implementing legislation of the Member States. In addition to environmental agreements, Member States used various other types of legislation to address this issue of packaging waste prior to the Directive. Member States have chosen different methods of allocating responsibility for packaging waste along the packaging chain. One may distinguish between ‘multi-point’ and ‘single-point’ obligations. In the 1980s, the United Kingdom was highly innovative in the development of disposable plastic packaging in Europe and began substituting plastic in place of glass and metal. Prior to 1996, the only Spanish legislation regarding packaging had been regulations implementing the Directive of 1985. The multi-point obligation, which is the most common, places responsibility for packaging waste along the length of the packaging chain; accordingly, all members of the packaging chain must work together to achieve the targets of the Directive.
