CONCEPTUAL ASPECTS REGARDING THE EXTENDED RESPONSIBILITY OF THE PRODUCER IN THE CONTEXT OF THE WASTE MANAGEMENT MECHANISM PROVIDED FOR BY THE LEGISLATION OF THE REPUBLIC OF MOLDOVA

At present, globally, all waste management systems are guided by the “polluter pays” principle. The transition from this principle to the area of waste management was made by the European Union 40 years ago, starting from the idea of determining who the polluter is. Thus, the easiest answer to this question would be that the polluter is the citizen. The citizen is also a waste generator and he also decides when a product becomes waste. It’s just that the European Union has established that there are some exceptions for certain products, in which case it is not the citizen who pollutes, but the producer of the product. And one such product, for which the responsibility falls on the manufacturer, is the packaging. It is very important to know that 75% of what happens on the operational and logistical flow after the manufacturer is decided at the time of product design. As such, there has been a transition from the ‘polluter pays’ principle to the principle of producer responsibility for the flow of packaging. Subsequently, this responsibility of the manufacturer was extended to electrical and electronic equipment, batteries, rubber or used oil. This transition also has the advantage that once a person in charge of the packaging flow is established, with whom the state is in a permanent business relationship, it can be tracked whether or not it fulfills its obligations regarding environmental protection