A look at the impacts of extended producer responsibility
The past decade has experienced an explosion of environmental “extended producer responsibility” (EPR) policy initiatives around the globe. EPR policy extends a producer’s responsibility for a product or its packaging to the postconsumer stage. The two key features of environmental EPR are: the shifting of responsibility (physical and/or economic) upstream toward the producer and away from municipal authorities and the provision of incentives to producers to incorporate environmental considerations into the design of products.
Policy instruments to accomplish this include deposit-refund systems, take-back legislation, materials taxes, combined taxes/subsidies, so-called “advance disposal fees,” and recycled-content requirements.
