Extended Producer Responsibility: Principles, policies, and impact
One of the key policies developed in recent times to improve waste management and bring societies closer to a circular economy is Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR). EPR has become very popular in recent years and plays a crucial role in most new legislation regarding environmental impact, but it isn’t a new concept. The idea of shifting the responsibility for a product’s life cycle (from manufacturing to end-of-life) from government to producers was born in the 1990s, and its revolutionary simplicity has brought it to the spotlight of environmental policies.
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What is Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR)?
Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) is an environmental framework whose goal is to improve waste management and guide societies toward a more sustainable model of production and disposal. The cornerstone of EPR is that producers and manufacturers take responsibility for their products until the end of their useful life.
Before the conceptual development of EPR in the 1990s, producers were only accountable for the goods they manufactured up to the point they reached store shelves. After that, consumers used the products until they broke, became unrepairable, or obsolete. At that point, it was the government’s responsibility to manage the resulting waste. Public collection systems, funded by taxpayers, handled the recycling or disposal of items that were thrown away.
EPR policies proposed that producers should be responsible for the fate of their products once they are no longer useful to consumers. In this way, companies would not only bear part of the cost of the waste they generate but also have incentives to design and market more sustainable products, and to improve the ways their products can be reused or refurbished—moving toward more circular systems.
There are two ways to enforce Extended Producer Responsibility from a legal standpoint: financial and operational EPR.
Financial EPR
In financial EPR, producers assume financial responsibility for the management of their discarded products. Typically, the public sector manages the collection and recycling system and recoups the costs of this process from producers.
It is important to emphasize that financial EPR is not, and cannot be, considered a tax. It is a fee used exclusively to cover the full net costs of operating the collection, recovery, or treatment of covered products, promoting eco-design, supporting the recycling industry, and organizing awareness campaigns.
Operational EPR
In operational EPR, producers take on a more direct and participatory role. They are responsible for establishing and financing waste collection and recovery systems. Operational EPR is often linked to performance targets—such as collection, recycling, or reuse goals—set by governmental, national, or international bodies. Producers must meet these targets to be considered compliant with their extended producer responsibility.
In most countries, operational EPR is implemented through Producer Responsibility Organisations (PROs). These schemes bring together companies from the same sector to collectively fulfill their regulatory obligations for reclaiming and recycling product-related waste. PROs can combine elements of both financial and operational EPR, contributing economically to the collection process while also participating in decisions on how the system is organized and managed.
EPR impact and limitations
Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) has been implemented in many countries in various forms over the past three decades. This has provided valuable opportunities to put the theory into practice and assess both its effectiveness and the challenges it continues to face.
Key Achievements of EPR
- Increases in the volume of separately collected waste.
- Higher recycling rates.
- Reduced reliance on landfills.
- Improved packaging waste management
- Development of specialized product recycling programs.
- Greater transparency in material and financial flows.
- Reduction of public spending on end-of-life waste management.
Ongoing challenges
Despite its accomplishments, EPR alone is not sufficient to fully address the complexity of modern waste management. The growing volume of plastics found in nature, the difficulty of recycling textiles, and the persistence of microplastics highlight the limitations of EPR. Addressing these issues requires ongoing collaboration between producers, consumers, and public institutions to advance toward a circular economy, reduce our environmental footprint, and minimize waste generation.
How can Extended Producer Responsibility affect your company?
If your company sells products in the European Union, you are subject to Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) obligations at some level. Various EU regulations are currently enforcing this policy across multiple countries, covering areas such as eco-design, labelling, and waste management.
At Circular Compliance, we specialize in helping businesses navigate and meet their EPR obligations efficiently. Check out our services to ensure your company stays compliant and ahead in the transition to a circular economy.
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