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In this blog, we will walk through two successful case studies of EPR being implemented in OECD developed countries.
FRANCE
Even though it has been voted in since 1975 and has been formalized by both the French law and an EU directive, EPR was only applied as a law in France to household packaging waste in 1992. Since then, EPR channels have only increased.
In that country, EPR is defined as the requirement from producers, importers and distributors to contribute to the disposal of waste from their products. The wording in the current Environmental Code (Article L541-10) has barely changed since the original 1975 directive.
Over the years, the efficiency of EPR channels has also progressed. In the last two decades, the collection rate of batteries has reached 80% as opposed to not being collected before at all [1].
As of 2016, there are 14 mandatory schemes that have been operational in France that channel over 600 million euros yearly towards packaging waste management.
Below is the classification of these schemes:
1.ELV (end-of-life vehicl
WEEE (electrical and electronic equipment)
Collective bodies called PROs (Producers Responsibility Organization) can be delegated the task of managing the waste by paying an eco-contribution to. PROs are private companies that have to follow terms of reference imposed by the State. Producers, operators and PROs work in collaboration with the municipal system to find the most efficient ways of collecting, treating and disposing waste.
Statistics show the progress that the French EPR scheme have made over the years (Figures as compounded in 2016):
In the next blog, we will cover the case study of Germany and its EPR schemes.
References:
[1] Jacques Vernier, “Extended producer responsibility (EPR) in France ”, Field Actions Science Reports [Online], Special Issue 23 | 2021, Online since 23 November 2021, connection on 09 December 2021. URL: http://journals.openedition.org/factsreports/6557
[2] OECD (2016), “20 years of EPR in France: Achievements, lessons learned and challenges ahead”, in Extended Producers Responsibility: Updated Guidance for Efficient Waste Management, OECD Publishing, Paris.
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EPR, or Extended Producer Responsibility, first came about in Sweden in 1990. Thomas Lindhqvist, an academic and then Masters student at Lund University, introduced the concept. The idea was based on holding manufacturers accountable for their products to the Swedish Ministry of the Environment.
His research was aimed at establishing the extent to which current recycling and waste management systems influence new policies that promote cleaner production as well as disposal.
In 1992, Lindhqvist formally defined EPR in a report as:
“An environmental protection strategy to reach an environmental objective of a decreased total environmental impact from a product, by making the manufacturer of the product responsible for the entire life-cycle of the product and especially for the take-back, recycling and final disposal of the product. The Extended Producer Responsibility is implemented through administrative, economic and informative instruments. The composition of these instruments determines the precise form of the Extended Producer Responsibility.”
Coincidentally, many European countries were also looking for reform and novel strategies to improve waste management at the time Lindhqvist introduced his proposal.
This perfectly timed initiative led to the incorporation of various versions of EPR in almost all OECD countries.
Germany was the first country to implement a precedent example of EPR in Europe in 1991. The industry responded to this new policy by setting up a new “dual system” of waste collection compromising of collection streams of both household packaging and municipal waste.
Today, as defined by OECD, EPR is characterized by:
In the next blog, we will detail the implementation strategies along with provisions made in the name of EPR in various countries across the world.
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