National Statistical Institute

"Environmental and Energy accounts" Department

Peter Petrov

State expert

2 Panayot Volov St., 1038 Sofia

[email protected]

+359 2 9857 499

Not applicable.

Data on packaging placed on the market are presented by materials - plastics, paper and cardboard, metals, wood, textiles, glass and composite materials, in accordance with Implementing Decision (EU) No 2019/655 amending Decision 2005/270/EC establishing formats related to the database system pursuant to Directive 94/62/EC on packaging and packaging waste, at national level (total for the country). Data on packaging quantities are based on data from the statistical survey "Packaging placed on the market".

-          -Ordinance on packaging and packaging waste regarding packaging materials (Appendix No. 2)

-          -Nomenclature of types of packaging

-            Classification of economic activities (NACE-2008)

The statistical survey covers all enterprises that are manufacturers and importers of packaging and packaged goods.

The statistical unit is an enterprise that is a member of organizations for recovery of packaging waste, and an enterprise, whose main activity is in certain industries producing packaged goods, but which are not members of organizations for the recovery of packaging waste.

The statistical population is made up of statistical units (enterprises), included in the Statistical Business Register (SBR)  , whose economic activity (NACE Rev.2 ) is related to the placing on the market of packages and enterprises that are members of organizations for recovery of packaging waste, for which it is known in advance that they bear the characteristics surveyed.

Total for the country.

2019-2023

Not applicable.

Tons

Calendar year

Regulatory documents:

- Regulation No 223/2009 on European statistics

- Council Regulation (EU, Euratom) 2021/770 of 30 April 2021 on the calculation of the own resource based on non-recycled plastic packaging waste

- Directive 94/62/EC on packaging and packaging waste

- Statistics Act

- Ordinance on packaging and packaging waste 

Regulation (EC) No 223/2009 on European statistics provides for the need to establish common principles and guidelines ensuring the confidentiality of data used for the production of European statistics and access to such confidential data, with due regard to technical developments and the requirements of users in a democratic society.

The Statistics Act (Art. 25, para. 1) stipulates that individual data received and collected in statistical surveys are statistical secrets and may be used only for statistical purposes.

According to Art. 25 of the Statistics Act, individual data shall not be disclosed or provided. The provision of individual data is possible only according to Art. 26 of the Statistics Act.

The date for publication of the statistical information is indicated in the Calendar for the dissemination of the results of the statistical surveys of the NSI

The calendar is available on the NSI website here.

Data on packaging placed on the market are published on the NSI website in the section"Environment"  in accordance with the Statistics Act and the European Statistical Code of Practice, respecting professional independence and aiming at objectivity and transparency, whereby all users are on an equal footing.

Annual.

Regular press release on the NSI website

-          Statistical Yearbook

-          Statistical Reference Book

-          Electronic Publication "Environment"

-          Brochure "Bulgaria"

Data on underground reserves are available on the NSI website in:

- Section "Environment"

- Infostat system.

Individual anonymized data may be provided for scientific and research purposes, in accordance with the Rules for Provision of Anonymised Individual Data for Scientific and Research Purposes of the NSI.

Information service on request, according to the Rules for Dissemination of Statistical Products and Services of the NSI.

- Manual of  Packaging and Packaging Waste March 2023

- Internal Methodology "Environmental Statistics and Accounts"“

-          European Statistics Code of Practice

-          Integrated management system in the NSI

-          General model of the statistical production process in the NSI

-          Handbook on Internal Quality Audit in the NSI

-          Internal methodology "Environmental Statistics and Accounts"

Quality report  is published annually with the publication of statistical data

The quality of the data is ensured by applying the principles of the European Statistics Code of Practice and the Common Framework for Quality Management in the National Statistical System, including through the application of the internal methodology "Statistics and Environmental Accounts, developed by the NSI.

The quality assurance activities guarantee compliance with the requirements of the Statistics Act in terms of quality criteria: adequacy, accuracy, timeliness, punctuality, accessibility and clarity, comparability and logical coherence. They also ensure the application of the principles of the European Statistics Code of Practice: sound methodology; appropriate statistical procedures; moderate burden on respondents; cost-effectiveness; applicability; accuracy; timeliness and accuracy of presentation; comparability and coherence; accessibility and clarity.

The quality assessment is carried out at each stage of the statistical production process, in accordance with the Common Framework for Quality Management in the NSS and the principles of the European Statistics Code of Practice. It includes statistical processes and statistical information. The requirements of the current methodological documents are applied for quality assessment, including the instructions in the internal methodology "Statistics and Environmental Accounts", developed by the NSI.

To ensure high quality of the data, their consistency with data from the annual reports on the activities of enterprises is checked (net sales revenue, production revenue, revenue from industrial services, incl. from services for the production of goods, employee). For the needs of the additional statistical assessment, the statistical indicator "Production revenue" is used. In order to ensure the quality of the data, work is also being done to continuously improve the online-based information system for collecting primary data, providing the possibility of arithmetic and logical control of the input data, and additional analyses and checks are being carried out.

Information on packaging placed on the market is essential for monitoring packaging waste policies and the own resource of non-recycled plastic packaging in the European Union.

The NSI conducts a regular statistical survey "User satisfaction with the statistical information products and services provided", which covers all statistical areas. It aims to assess user satisfaction with the statistical information provided by the NSI and to define recommendations for the future development of the statistical system in accordance with user needs.

The data complies with the requirements of the applicable legislation in terms of coverage and observable indicators.

Data accuracy, as one of the criteria for the quality of statistical information, according to the Statistics Act, is guaranteed through quality assurance activities within the statistical production process.

Not applicable

Not applicable

The data are published 14 months after the reporting year.

The data are published according to the deadlines in the Calendar for the dissemination of the results of the statistical surveys of the NSI.

Data is compiled at the national level. Given the application of common definitions and classifications, the data are comparable with other EU countries.

The data are comparable over time. Time series are available from 2019 (from 2004 in INFOSTAT).

When the methodology changes, the data in the time series is revised.

The data are coordinated with:

- Data from the annual reports on the activities of enterprises (net sales revenue, production revenue, revenue from industrial services, incl. from services for the production of goods, employed persons).

For the needs of the additional statistical assessment, the statistical indicator "Production revenue" is used

The data have a high degree of internal consistency. The quality assessment procedure checks the consistency of the primary and statistical data by number, weight and economic activities, of the aggregated and detailed data.

The costs (budget) for statistical surveys are disclosed in the National Statistical Program, published on the NSI website.

Reducing the burden on respondents is a priority in conducting statistical surveys. In this regard, actions are being taken to alleviate the burden, for example: collecting and checking primary data through the online-based information system "Environmental Statistics", containing strict arithmetic and logical controls; improving the instructions for filling in survey forms; providing methodological and technical assistance; continuously exploring the possibilities for using information from administrative and other sources; conducting annual training for respondents and NSI experts, etc.

The time needed to fill in the statistical forms is used as the main measure of the burden on respondents. For this purpose, a section is included in each form that respondents must fill in, regarding the time needed to fill in the form (including the time for data preparation). Based on this information and given the specifics of the study, the workload of the respondents can be determined as relatively high. The overall workload of the responsible experts is determined as high, especially in cases of revisions of data from previous reporting periods.

In accordance with the principles of the European Statistics Code of Practice and the requirements of the internal rules/integrated management system, statistical processes are regularly monitored and revised as necessary. Revisions are carried out according to standard, established and transparent procedures and are regularly analysed with the aim of improving data sources, statistical processes and products.

The data is revised upon change in regulatory requirements, the applied methodology, or when necessary.

-          Statistical survey "Packages placed on the market";

Information from other statistical studies (business statistics) is also used to define the population, verify the data and perform estimations.

Annually

From the respondents, the following data on single-use and reusable packages for goods, produced in Bulgaria and abroad (import), is collected:

• Origin of the goods - Local goods (produced in Bulgaria) and Imported goods (produced outside Bulgaria);
• Types of packages;
• Types of packages according to their purpose;
• Group of packaging material;
• Type of packaging material;
• Number of packages;
• Weight of packages;
• Wall thickness of lightweight plastic carrier bags;
• Reusable packages/in circulation during the year (number and weight);
• Packages for replacement/supplement the packages displayed by the system during the year (number and weight);
• Average number of uses per year.

Data validation is part of the activities to ensure the quality of statistical information. Primary data are validated in terms of completeness, correct classification, units of measurement, comparability with previous years, comparability with data from other statistical areas and/or administrative sources, logical control, etc. Statistical data are validated in terms of their comparability, accuracy, reliability, etc., in accordance with the quality criteria according to the Statistics Act.

Data processing is carried out by strictly applying the survey methodology and data verification methods.

Data processing includes the actions by which, based on the primary data, brought into an appropriate form, statistical data are calculated, using specialized software products for this purpose.

Not applicable.