Welcome to the first of our quarterly blog series of highlights of the new major features and functionalities in SAP Responsible Design and Production (RDP). In this edition we will provide a broad overview of current capabilities and a review of recently released features.
Introduction to SAP Responsible Design and Production
Plastic Taxes: The challenge of 2023
Features released in H1 2023
Additional Information and Updates
SAP Responsible Design and Production calculates extended producer responsibility (EPR) obligations, plastic taxes, and corporate commitments to optimize material choices, reduce fees, and reduce risks coming from unforeseen regulatory costs and non-compliance. The solution further provides intelligence that allows your company to monitor, measure, and act, so you can eliminate waste and circulate materials.
SAP Responsible Design and Production can also help your business transition to more sustainable products and packaging for a circular economy, with analytics and data insights.
You can import a variety of data into the system either via replication (system-to-system integration) or manual file upload and visualize your data with the apps in the “Replicated Data” group: Customers, Products, Organizational Data, Deliveries...
Key capability of SAP Responsible Design and Production is providing out of the box logic for generating voluntary NGO declarations and reports (as Ellen MacArthur Foundation annual report), but more importantly, for calculating taxes or fees according to different types of report standards (EPR and Plastic Taxes). Today you can enable the following standard EPR reports via the app “Enable Report Category”:
Along as the new Plastic Taxes reports:
RDP will keep the logic constantly up to date, updating pricing conditions and fees calculations when necessary. We are adding in new countries and regulations all the time (Spain, Italy and UK new EPR rules to come soon) and you can find out the latest at the SAP Roadmap explorer.
Once report categories and configurations are managed, you can run the report and download the document generated based on the replicated or imported data.
Finally, you can also visualize reports output with flexible charts and graphs through the app Analyze Reporting Data.
Discover more about RDP with the SAP Learning Journey Responsible Design and Production for the Circular Economy (https://learning.sap.com/learning-journey/responsible-design-and-production-for-the-circular-economy ).
Plastic is a widespread material known for its variety of applications and flexible but robust physical features. Consequently, huge quantities of plastic waste are generated and making their way into the environment for decades/centuries, undermining ecosystems and posing a threat to life on our planet. To tackle this massive issue and try to keep our planetary boundaries together, the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, the Word Economic Forum, the European Union, and governments around the world are implementing mandatory and voluntary reporting requirements to measure and curb plastic pollution.
In December 2015 the European Commission declared the first Circular Economy Action Plan, which was reinforced due to the Green New Deal in December 2019. In 2022 the EU revised the rules for Packaging and Packaging waste with the goal to “ensure that all packaging on the EU market will be recyclable in an economically viable way by 2030”. All members states are now asked to implement national legislation to increase recycling rates for packaging. In April 2022 the UK Plastic Packaging Tax was introduced to provide a clear economic incentive for businesses to use recycled plastic in the manufacturing of plastic packaging, diverting plastic waste away from landfill. The UK tax is £200 per metric ton of plastic packaging either produced in or imported into the UK that does not contain at least 30% recycled plastic.
Following, in Spain on January 1, 2023, the Special Tax on Non-Reusable Plastic Containers took effect, imposing €450 per metric ton of non-reusable plastic.
A key challenge for companies is getting the data to evaluate taxes and processing tax reports. During the last few months, SAP Responsible Design and Production has been helping companies successfully manage their plastic taxes with its dedicated reports (see Henkel success story).
“We developed SAP Responsible Design and Production to help companies connect information across their ERP systems with regulatory and voluntary sustainability mandates,” said Stephen Jamieson, Global Head of Circular Economy Solutions at SAP. “Customers can monitor their performance, and plan ahead to design-in packaging and production strategies from factory to consumer and the community at-large, meeting evolving country-specific mandates.”
Learn more about the value RDP provides to your business with the new blog post “Plastic packaging taxes – SAP supports with SAP Responsible Design and Production”.
Here we outline new features which have been released since 2023.
There are multiple types of packaging made from an increasing variety of materials, thus we continuously expand the coverage in our solution to help your business to address this complexity. In the last months new packaging types such as intermediate bulk containers and adhesive tapes, and basic material fractions (e.g., Cork, Ethylene-vinyl acetate copolymer (EVA, also known as EVAC), Ethylene acrylic acid (EAA), Ethylene methacrylic acid (EMAA)) and regenerated cellulose were added to SAP Responsible Design and Production. This enhancement will help you to cover an even broader range of packaging types and materials.
We constantly enhance the capabilities of SAP Responsible Design and Production to support your business comply with the frequently changing extended producer responsibility regulations in different countries.
France
In France companies producing or importing packaging material must report on the used material they have put on the market to CITEO, an organization authorized by the government. The type of declaration that must be submitted is determined based on the number of Consumer Sales Units (CSU) placed on the market per year. A CSU is a unit of packaged product which a consumer can buy separately from others.
SAP RDP supports a report category for France called CITEO Packaging Declaration. This includes multiple rules for reporting on packaging data. Two additional rules are covered for the 2023 report:
See the full list of rules here.
Also, several new features were released related to plastic tax reporting both for Spain and the UK.
Spain
UK
Note: We are closely monitoring the new EPR rules published for the UK and will add new features to this soon.
Have you enjoyed our previous OpenSAP course, “Help Business Thrive in a Circular Economy” and you want to learn more? Join our new OpenSAP free online course “Design for a Circular Economy”. You will learn how to create products in a circular way for a more sustainable future. According to the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, 80% of the environmental impact of a product comes from the initial design stage and this impact can be reduced – for example- by designing a product to be easily recyclable at the end of life or to be repairable or re-useable in some of its component parts. The choice of business model, infrastructure and the ecosystem of partners involved is also critical.
In the course, you will hear from many external speakers, including design and biomimicry experts, as well as speakers from the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, WRAP (UK climate action NGO), packaging providers, and Consumer packaged goods companies.
The course is live now and will run live till 21 June, when you can earn a certificate of completion. After this date, the learning resources will be still available, but no certificate of completion will be issued. So, register now to stay up to date on Circular Economy and SAP Responsible Design and Production!
There are many more new features and functions which have been released in SAP Responsible Design and Production. As always, for an overview please check the What’s New section in the SAP Help Portal which is updated with every new software release or for an outlook on foreseeable feature please consult the RDP roadmap (be aware that it is susceptible to changes).
To stay up to date on SAP Responsible Design and Production please follow me here in the SAP Community. In regular cadence I will publish blog posts providing updates on all the product’s new features and functionalities as well as deep dives into the product capabilities. I’m also looking forward to engaging with you directly, feel free to leave your feedback in the comment section. For questions, please see the Q&A here in the SAP for Sustainability Community or reach out to me directly.
Darren West
Product Expert, Circular Economy
Co-Authors:
Index
Introduction to SAP Responsible Design and Production
Plastic Taxes: The challenge of 2023
Features released in H1 2023
Additional Information and Updates
Introduction to SAP Responsible Design and Production
SAP Responsible Design and Production calculates extended producer responsibility (EPR) obligations, plastic taxes, and corporate commitments to optimize material choices, reduce fees, and reduce risks coming from unforeseen regulatory costs and non-compliance. The solution further provides intelligence that allows your company to monitor, measure, and act, so you can eliminate waste and circulate materials.
SAP Responsible Design and Production can also help your business transition to more sustainable products and packaging for a circular economy, with analytics and data insights.
The Reporting Dashboard app gives you an overview of packaging data and their sustainability attributes (selectable from a drop-down menu), current data issues with your dataset, and reminders for upcoming report deadlines.
You can import a variety of data into the system either via replication (system-to-system integration) or manual file upload and visualize your data with the apps in the “Replicated Data” group: Customers, Products, Organizational Data, Deliveries...
In the Configuration Cockpit app you can create your own replication configuration to push data from an SAP or a third-party system to SAP Responsible Design and Production. Here you see the different object types that you can replicate in the system.
Key capability of SAP Responsible Design and Production is providing out of the box logic for generating voluntary NGO declarations and reports (as Ellen MacArthur Foundation annual report), but more importantly, for calculating taxes or fees according to different types of report standards (EPR and Plastic Taxes). Today you can enable the following standard EPR reports via the app “Enable Report Category”:
- Canada Ontario Blue Box Report (Canada)
- Duale Systeme (Germany)
- Citeo (France)
- Afvalfonds Verpakkingen (Netherlands)
Along as the new Plastic Taxes reports:
- United Kingdom Plastic Packaging Tax
- Spain Plastic Packaging Tax (with amounts printed on invoices)
RDP will keep the logic constantly up to date, updating pricing conditions and fees calculations when necessary. We are adding in new countries and regulations all the time (Spain, Italy and UK new EPR rules to come soon) and you can find out the latest at the SAP Roadmap explorer.
Once report categories and configurations are managed, you can run the report and download the document generated based on the replicated or imported data.
In the app Run Advanced Compliance Report, you can run a report and check its details: once you click on a specific report run generated for a report entity, you can download the legal reporting document.
Finally, you can also visualize reports output with flexible charts and graphs through the app Analyze Reporting Data.
The Analyze Reporting Data app shows the packaging report data by country/region and fraction group (e.g., glass, paper and carton) allowing you to filter per reporting configuration, month and packaging level (chart filter bar above). You can add more dimensions or measures to the displayed chart and introduce sort and filter rules.
Discover more about RDP with the SAP Learning Journey Responsible Design and Production for the Circular Economy (https://learning.sap.com/learning-journey/responsible-design-and-production-for-the-circular-economy ).
Plastic Taxes: The challenge of 2023
Plastic is a widespread material known for its variety of applications and flexible but robust physical features. Consequently, huge quantities of plastic waste are generated and making their way into the environment for decades/centuries, undermining ecosystems and posing a threat to life on our planet. To tackle this massive issue and try to keep our planetary boundaries together, the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, the Word Economic Forum, the European Union, and governments around the world are implementing mandatory and voluntary reporting requirements to measure and curb plastic pollution.
In December 2015 the European Commission declared the first Circular Economy Action Plan, which was reinforced due to the Green New Deal in December 2019. In 2022 the EU revised the rules for Packaging and Packaging waste with the goal to “ensure that all packaging on the EU market will be recyclable in an economically viable way by 2030”. All members states are now asked to implement national legislation to increase recycling rates for packaging. In April 2022 the UK Plastic Packaging Tax was introduced to provide a clear economic incentive for businesses to use recycled plastic in the manufacturing of plastic packaging, diverting plastic waste away from landfill. The UK tax is £200 per metric ton of plastic packaging either produced in or imported into the UK that does not contain at least 30% recycled plastic.
Following, in Spain on January 1, 2023, the Special Tax on Non-Reusable Plastic Containers took effect, imposing €450 per metric ton of non-reusable plastic.
A key challenge for companies is getting the data to evaluate taxes and processing tax reports. During the last few months, SAP Responsible Design and Production has been helping companies successfully manage their plastic taxes with its dedicated reports (see Henkel success story).
“We developed SAP Responsible Design and Production to help companies connect information across their ERP systems with regulatory and voluntary sustainability mandates,” said Stephen Jamieson, Global Head of Circular Economy Solutions at SAP. “Customers can monitor their performance, and plan ahead to design-in packaging and production strategies from factory to consumer and the community at-large, meeting evolving country-specific mandates.”
Learn more about the value RDP provides to your business with the new blog post “Plastic packaging taxes – SAP supports with SAP Responsible Design and Production”.
Features released in H1 2023
Here we outline new features which have been released since 2023.
There are multiple types of packaging made from an increasing variety of materials, thus we continuously expand the coverage in our solution to help your business to address this complexity. In the last months new packaging types such as intermediate bulk containers and adhesive tapes, and basic material fractions (e.g., Cork, Ethylene-vinyl acetate copolymer (EVA, also known as EVAC), Ethylene acrylic acid (EAA), Ethylene methacrylic acid (EMAA)) and regenerated cellulose were added to SAP Responsible Design and Production. This enhancement will help you to cover an even broader range of packaging types and materials.
Extended Producer Responsibility reporting
We constantly enhance the capabilities of SAP Responsible Design and Production to support your business comply with the frequently changing extended producer responsibility regulations in different countries.
France
In France companies producing or importing packaging material must report on the used material they have put on the market to CITEO, an organization authorized by the government. The type of declaration that must be submitted is determined based on the number of Consumer Sales Units (CSU) placed on the market per year. A CSU is a unit of packaged product which a consumer can buy separately from others.
SAP RDP supports a report category for France called CITEO Packaging Declaration. This includes multiple rules for reporting on packaging data. Two additional rules are covered for the 2023 report:
- New penalty rule for 2023: If a PET bottle or vial ('dispenser bottle') is in a sleeve that consists of either PETG (4140), PLA (4420), or PS (one of the Polystyrene fractions 4111 – 4115) basic material fraction, and the sleeve is not perforated, the system applies 10% penalty.
- The new 5% rule for 2023 is used to define the main report fraction for each basic material fraction in a packaging element/EPR group.
- Rules for reporting basic material fraction for Ink, Lacquer, Glue (9010) are now implemented for the Declaration per CSU report.
See the full list of rules here.
Plastic tax reporting
Also, several new features were released related to plastic tax reporting both for Spain and the UK.
Spain
- It is now possible to calculate tax refund and tax deductions (balancing)
- Deductions are now included for EU acquirer in Form 592
- The logic for First Sale is now available in Form 592
- Form A22 is now included in the Spanish Plastic Tax report
- International Commercial Terms (Incoterms) for imports from non-EU countries/regions are now covered by RDP
- The import or EU acquisition of finished single-use plastic packaging for medical purposes exemption is now available.
UK
- The Plastic Packaging Tax report for the United Kingdom now calculates the amount of the plastic packaging for which tax credit for previous reporting periods can be claimed back.
- The report logistic process will only consider deliveries with maintained Incoterms attribute, which indicates if the supplier is liable for the plastic packaging tax.
- The announced increase in the rate of the Plastic Packaging Tax has been reflected. The rate is amended from £200 per ton to £210.82 per ton with effect from April 1, 2023.
Note: We are closely monitoring the new EPR rules published for the UK and will add new features to this soon.
“Design for a Circular Economy”, a new OpenSAP course on Sustainability for businesses
Have you enjoyed our previous OpenSAP course, “Help Business Thrive in a Circular Economy” and you want to learn more? Join our new OpenSAP free online course “Design for a Circular Economy”. You will learn how to create products in a circular way for a more sustainable future. According to the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, 80% of the environmental impact of a product comes from the initial design stage and this impact can be reduced – for example- by designing a product to be easily recyclable at the end of life or to be repairable or re-useable in some of its component parts. The choice of business model, infrastructure and the ecosystem of partners involved is also critical.
In the course, you will hear from many external speakers, including design and biomimicry experts, as well as speakers from the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, WRAP (UK climate action NGO), packaging providers, and Consumer packaged goods companies.
The course is live now and will run live till 21 June, when you can earn a certificate of completion. After this date, the learning resources will be still available, but no certificate of completion will be issued. So, register now to stay up to date on Circular Economy and SAP Responsible Design and Production!
Additional Information and Updates
There are many more new features and functions which have been released in SAP Responsible Design and Production. As always, for an overview please check the What’s New section in the SAP Help Portal which is updated with every new software release or for an outlook on foreseeable feature please consult the RDP roadmap (be aware that it is susceptible to changes).
To stay up to date on SAP Responsible Design and Production please follow me here in the SAP Community. In regular cadence I will publish blog posts providing updates on all the product’s new features and functionalities as well as deep dives into the product capabilities. I’m also looking forward to engaging with you directly, feel free to leave your feedback in the comment section. For questions, please see the Q&A here in the SAP for Sustainability Community or reach out to me directly.
Darren West
Product Expert, Circular Economy
Co-Authors:
- Sören Thomsen (Senior Solution Specialist - Sustainable Engineering)
- Ilaria Martiradonna (Public Cloud ERP Senior Developer and Product Management Sustainability Fellow)
- Sophie Loehr (Value and Innovation Engineer and Product Management Sustainability Fellow)
- SAP Managed Tags:
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