The Assembly adopted the Law on Waste Management in which, as announced, the emphasis was placed on the circular economy, through the program of extended responsibility, selective collection of waste and reduction of its disposal.
The Minister of Tourism, Ecology, Sustainable Development and Development of the North, Vladimir Martinović, said earlier that when drafting the Draft Law, the emphasis was on the experiences of the European Union (EU) countries in establishing an efficient organized system for the collection, collection and processing of product waste - packaging, electrical and electronic equipment, batteries and accumulators of vehicles and tires.
He said that the EU's best practice, which was included in the Draft Law, is the Extended Producer Responsibility Program, which aims to ensure that producers, ie importers of products, bear responsibility throughout the entire life of the products they put on the market.
"This is very important for Montenegro, which imports a large percentage of products that are included in the system of extended responsibility, because the financial responsibility for the collection and disposal of those products is transferred to the importers, that is, the producers," explained Martinović.
He added that the importer, that is, the manufacturer, must aim to return the product to him at the end of its life and to take responsibility for its recycling, processing or disposal, which is also the practice in the EU.
Martinović stated that, in accordance with the EU Directive on reducing the impact of certain plastic products on the environment, the Draft Law also dealt with the issue of waste from single-use plastic products and waste fishing gear containing plastic.
"Given that it has a high potential for recycling, the obligation from the aforementioned Directive, which was introduced in the Draft Law on Waste Management, is to prescribe extended producer responsibility for that waste, in accordance with the "polluter pays" principle, in order to ensured separate collection and recycling," added Martinović.
He said that the Draft Law foresees the possibility for small and medium-sized importers to join the already existing organized system of collection, collection and processing of waste.
"In order to accept EU standards, the proposed law provided for the payment of a special fee for the disposal of mixed municipal waste. This would have a direct impact on the reduction of the amount of mixed municipal waste that is disposed of," said Martinović.
As announced by the Ministry of Tourism, Ecology, Sustainable Development and Development of the North, after the adoption of the law on waste management, the adoption of the state waste management plan until 2028 is very important for that area.
With this, as the Ministry said, Montenegro joins developed countries in terms of environmental protection.
Deputies introduced changes to the Law on Higher Education and the Law on International Development Cooperation and International Humanitarian Aid.
Amendments to the Law on Industrial Emissions were adopted, as well as amendments to the Law on Biocidal Products, the Law on Restitution of Seized Property Rights and Compensation, and the Law on Expropriation.
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