Brussels, 26 November 2015 – During its General Assembly meeting, EXPRA, the umbrella organisation for packaging and packaging waste recovery and recycling systems which are owned by the obligated industry and work on a non-profit basis, welcomed new member - EKOPAK from Bosnia and Herzegovina, thereby extending its presence in the Balkans. 

First packaging waste recovery organisation in Bosnia and Herzegovina - EKOPAK, joined EXPRA at an important moment for packaging waste management, given the forthcoming publication of the new Circular Economy Package. Under this package, the legislative proposals for the Packaging and Packaging Waste Directive, as well as the Waste Framework Directive, will particularly impact the sector over the next 15 years, and beyond.

EKOPAK is a non-profit company established in 2011. It bears responsibility for meeting legal obligations concerning recycling and recovery of packaging waste within the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, on behalf of packaging producers, importers, fillers, distributors and merchants. EKOPAK is the first licensed PRO by the Federal Ministry of Environment and Tourism and the leading system operator of packaging waste management in the country.

Transparency and high standards of business are imperative of EKOPAK's daily work, which was also confirmed by earlier membership in the PRO EUROPE. EKOPAK's commitment is to develop a long-term, efficient and sustainable system for packaging waste management in our country, following the example of the best practices and experiences of other European countries.

“For EKOPAK, joining EXPRA is a big and exciting step, and we look forward to working with our colleagues from many countries, promoting, like us, EPR and non-profit principle. We hope to use their expertise in order to improve our performance and reach our objectives through setting up and optimizing an effective system for packaging recovery in line with the national goals of the Ministry for the Environment of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina”, said Amela Hrbat, Managing Director at EKOPAK. 

William Vermeir, President of EXPRA welcomed the new members to the EPR network and said: “We are happy to have our colleagues from SLOPAK and EKOPAK joining us, especially at this moment when we are trying to promote, at EU level, the EPR in its original sense. By this we mean non-profit compliance schemes, owned and steered by the obligated industry, providing a public service for our inhabitants.” 

“We are looking forward to sharing our experiences and involving EKOPAK and SLOPAK in our work, promoting EPR as an effective and efficient waste management tool”, said Joachim Quoden, Managing Director of EXPRA. “I believe that our two new members will contribute significantly to our work in the field of EU legislation but also in finding solutions to the specific challenges that our Balkans members face today”.

More about EXPRA on link: http://www.expra.eu/