At year-end 2022, legislation entered into force regarding new rules about package labels and packaging waste disposal in the Basque Country, the autonomous region in northern Spain. The new rules govern information that labels must contain, and how packaging waste must be recycled or otherwise disposed of. All packaging, including that for fish and seafood products, is covered by packaging rules and regulations. The new rules aim to reduce the vast quantities of waste that nonrecycled packaging creates.
To more effectively implement the new rules, the Basque government has enlisted the Hazi Foundation, a body supported by the Department of Food, Rural Development, Agriculture and Fisheries, to carry out a series of educational programmes regarding responsible use of packaging targeted at product manufacturers, distributors, and consumers. The foundation has set up online training modules with the goal of educating producers and users of packaging—including anyone in the flow of packaged products from originator to final buyer—about allowable packaging materials, recycling of packaging in whole or in part, and proper disposal methods for packaging materials that cannot be recycled. The expected results include, in addition to compliance with the legal requirement to recycle, the reduction of garbage that is costly as well as unsightly, and perhaps the joining of stakeholders in community groups or organisations that focus on recycling as part of environmental protection. Package labels will remind package makers and users of the requirement to recycle, along with tips on which materials are recycled and how to do it.
The government of the Basque Country emphasises that the new rules are different from the plastic tax already in place, which is intended to dissuade packaging manufacturers from using certain types of non-reusable plastic in their processes. The recent set of rules is not a tax but more of an educational effort designed to promote environmentally effective recycling behaviour.