Norway

Norway has implemented the EU-directive for packaging and packaging waste through a covenant between Norwegian Trade and Industry associations and the Ministry of Environment. There are separate agreements for each packaging material. These agreements cover packaging such as plastics, beverage cartons and cardboard, corrugated cardboard, glass and metal.

There is one material company for each of the materials, and each of them has a separate agreement with the Ministry of Environment. (Except glass). Each agreement has its own separate recycling and recovery target, and all of them are higher than the EU-targets.

Legal basis

The legal basis is the covenant between the Norwegian Ministry of Environment and the material companies. Beside these agreements there is a tax system for beverage containers, where the tax is reduced due to the level of recycling. At 95% recycling the tax disappears. Recycling numbers are being reported annually to the Norwegian EPA. Targets are subject to discussions between the owners of the material companies and the Ministry of Environment.

Fact and figures

Data 2012

Population	5 mil.
No. of local authorities	5 mil. inhabitants incorporated for selective collection
No. of companies in system	5,000 members
Packaging introduced to the market	550,000 tons (including agriculture film , glass and commercial and industrial packaging, excluding PET-bottles)
Recovered waste	230,138 tons of household packaging
Types of packaging	Household packaging or commercial packaging

Packaging organisation/s in Norway:

Green Dot Norway