What is extended producer responsibility (epr)？
Extended producer responsibility was first introduced in Sweden as an environmental protection strategy by making the product's manufacturer responsible for the entire life-cycle of the product, especially the take-back, recycling and final disposal.
The extended producer responsibility idea leads to take-back laws in several countries.
The goals of take-back laws
- Correct market signals to consumers by incorporating waste management fees into the product price.
- Encourage companies to design products with less material, better reusability and recyclability.
- Promote innovation in recycling technology
The market is the best tool to guide the reform of environmental sustainability. By adding cost and responsibility to the upstream, EPR creates incentives for producers to substitute product designs that are not environmentally sustainable.
EPR has been widely implemented in OECD countries. Extended producer responsibility is mandatory in the European Union within the context of packaging waste, WEEE, and Batteries Directives. However, the specific implementation varies widely in each country.
Who needs to register for EPR?
You are the defined producer
A producer is defined as "any natural or legal person who develops, manufactures, handles, processes, sells or imports waste-generating products or elements and materials used to manufacture them".
If you are the producer, then you need to fulfill your producer responsibility.
Join a PRO and get your EPR registration number
If you're a defined producer, you need to apply to Producer Responsibility Organizations(PRO) for registration. Different countries have different relevant PRO. For example, it's ADEME in France. You will get a unique identification number(UIN) heading with the country code like 'FR' + 6 digit number + underscore '_' + four uppercase letters at the end. You need to report the quantities of your products sold, then pay the respective fee to relevant PROs. You may also need to report the shipping packaging.
What does it mean for packaging suppliers?
Price and cost will gradually change the favor of consumers. Packaging which causes less environmental impact will win more market share. The time that the producer just manufactures anything they want like single-use plastics and leaves the responsibility of recycling and disposal to consumers and the government has been gone.
Incentives for eco-packaging trends
Less environmental impact is a must to consider factor in the product design phase. There will be a usage reduction on materials that have relatively higher recycling or disposal fee. The heavy decoration will be less favored, not only because of the changing aesthetics but also the rising cost. Packaging suppliers should be ready to embrace the change irreversible eco-packaging trends. Using more sustainable materials like bamboo or wood to replace those single-use but last forever plastics is a good option. Bamboo and wood are highly recyclable. You can explore more bamboo and wooden cosmetic packaging here.
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