Ecoembes in the CNMC’s crosshairs
The National Markets and Competition Commission (CNMC) has initiated a disciplinary proceeding against Ecoembes for “alleged conduct constituting a possible abuse of a dominant position in the market”, the regulatory body said in a statement on Wednesday.
Ecoembes, the sole manager of the Integrated System for the Management of Plastic Packaging Waste in Spain, will be investigated for the auction procedure used by the company, allegedly carried out “without guarantees of transparency and making access to it difficult for recycling companies”.
However, the CNMC points out that “the initiation of this case does not prejudge the final outcome of the investigation”, nor does it imply any sanction, so that a maximum period of 18 months is now open for its investigation and resolution.
Specifically, these are practices contrary to the Law on the Defence of Competition (LDC) and the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU).
Since 2004, the CNMC has been investigating the processing of an auction procedure “carried out in an arbitrary manner, which does not guarantee the transparency, traceability and integrity of the bids submitted”.
In addition, the regulator monitors “the establishment of access barriers to participate and thus be awarded in these auctions”, obstacles that “would not be justified by technical, environmental or economic reasons”.
This new investigation stems from a complaint filed by PET Compañía para su Reciclado, S.A.U. against Ecoembes and the confidential information carried out by the Competition Directorate.
Within the framework of this confidential information, in December 2021 the CNMC inspected the headquarters of Ecoembes and other recycling companies, and made numerous requests for information to different market operators.
For its part, Ecoembes has provided a note to EFE in which they recall that the complaint “has been filed by a single recycling company of the more than 380 companies approved by Ecoembes for the proper recycling of household packaging in Spain”.
The main manager of plastic packaging in Spain assures that “all Ecoembes’ approval, awarding and auctioning procedures pursue strict compliance with antitrust legislation, and are publicly documented on the Ecoembes website to ensure accessibility, free competition and market competition.
Therefore, “Ecoembes is fully available, both to the inspectors and to the CNMC itself, to resolve any questions and comply with any request for information that may be required during this process”.
