EPR Background

EPR stands for extended producer responsibility, which is a strategy to place a shared responsibility for end-of-life product management on the producers, and all entities involved in the supply chain, instead of the general public; while encouraging product design changes that minimize a negative impact on human health and the environment at every stage of the product’s life cycle. First implemented with the management of electronic waste and vehicles, EPR now extends to packaging: Today, over 30 countries mandate EPR legislation for packaging. While EPR legislation has historically been confined to member states of the EU due to the implementation of the 1994 EU Directive on Packaging and Packaging Waste, it is now expanding into the American and Canadian markets. Accordingly, it is in all producers’ interests to familiar themselves with EPR requirements in order to avoid the costs associated with failing to comply with said requirements.

EPR legislation is composed of three basic elements: waste management financing, product design and informational requirements. Waste management financing refers to the funding of the recovery of electronic and packaging waste; producers can therefore choose to comply individually or collectively. If chosen to comply individually, producers must set up their own system for the recovery of electronic and packaging waste; if chosen to comply collectively, producers must join an organization that assumes responsibility for recovering their packaging and electronic waste, as in the case with the Fost Plus system in Belgium.

Product design requirements refer to material restrictions and design for recycling/reuse. These design requirements often extend to electronics, batteries and packaging . An example of a material restriction mandate is the EU RoHS Directive, which requires that the materials used in packaging/consumer goods/electronics do not contain any heavy metals; an example of a design for recycling/reuse mandate is the EU WEEE Directive, which requires member states to meet targets for recycling and/or reuse, thereby granting authority to the state to mandate certain design for end of life requirements from producers.

Lastly, EPR legislation often includes a requirement to label the product, user manual, and/or packaging to inform the consumer that s/he should not place the product in the trash but rather drop off the product at a designated collection location for separate disposal. This extends to packaging, as illustrated through the development of various labeling schemes for packaging to inform the consumer what to do after use.

Please visit the links below for more information about EPR and packaging.

• EPR and Packaging
• Who does it affect?
• What you should do about EPR requirements?
• How to avoid high EPR fees
• What you should require from your suppliers
• The advantage of domestic suppliers
• The advantage of sourcing direct from the manufacturer
• The advantage of the monopackage
• The advantage of a custom design thermoformer
• The advantage of sourcing your packaging from Dordan Manufacturing

1. "Frequently Asked Questions: Extended Producer Responsibility or Product Stewardship," California Board of Integrated Waste Management, www.calrecycle.ca.gov/EPR/FAQs.html, accessed 2/22/2010.
2. Ibid, sec. II.B.
3. As part of the EU Directive on Packaging and Packaging Waste, Germany, France, Austria, Belgium, Luxembourg, United Kingdom, Ireland, Spain, Sweden and Portugal all impose fees on manufacturers for primary and secondary packaging by material type. Other member countries are rapidly following suit. Unfortunately, each country has developed its own unique program with different data requirements and fee structures, making broad compliance difficult at best." Information found in Victor Bell's "Grappling with Eco-fees," Environmental Packaging International, editorial archive sponsored by DuPont, published April 1998, copyrighted to Summit Publishing Company, p. 92.
4. Ibid, sec. II B.
5. Ibid, sec. I A.
6. Ibid, sec. III A.
7. Ibid, sec. III. B.
8. The Sustainable Packaging Coalition, for instance, is working on a labeling scheme for all packaging put on the market.

August 1, 2010:
How Green Products can win the Battle on the Retail Shelf


Soon, we will live in a world where Walmart lists a product's environmental "score" next to its price on the shelf ... where consumers will scan bar codes with their smart phones and learn exactly how green a product - and the company that makes it - really is.Until then, it's up to manufacturers to tell their environmental story, and the best place to do that is right on the product label....