What are the Key Terms of EPR?

Video courtesy of TOMRA

EPR stands for Extended Producer Responsibility. Extended Producer Responsibility is a policy approach that enacts the "producer pays principle". The policy assigns responsibility to the producer for the entirety of the product's life cycle, with the greatest responsibility for end-of-life management.

Over the past two decades, hundreds of EPRs have been enacted across thirty-three U.S. states, as of 2024. The EPR policies cover dozens of products, everything from electronics, paint, and mercury, to plastic packaging and paper products.

How EPR Works ✏️

EPR included both financial and operational responsibility to producers for the end-of-life management of their products. Producers are required by EPR to provide funding and services to assist in the management of these products. This is often done through a Producer Responsibility Organization (PRO). A PRO acts as a collective organization to develop producer responsibility plans and manage the producer responsibility program. PROs are typically independent, nonprofit organizations that operate within a region.

Although financial structure may different across EPRs, in most programs the responsible producers pay fees to the PRO. The PRO will use these fees to fund the costs associated with the end-of-life management of products, including collecting, sorting, and processing. In many of the more recent EPRs, costs can include community outreach and education and infrastructure improvements.

Goals of EPR ⭐️

Waste reduction: by managing materials, products that may have ended up in a landfill are instead recovered, recycled, or reused.
Reduced public spending: by requiring producers to pay for waste management rather than local governments, taxpayer money can be used on other services. Further, by internalizing the costs of waste management to the producers it encourages waste reduction, creating a more efficient system.
Innovative designs: EPR incentivizes producers to create products that maximize reuse and recycling, minimizing the environmental impact.

Strengths ✅

Holds producers accountable for the end-of-life treatment of their products, encouraging them to design more sustainably.
Stimulates innovation in product design as companies seek to minimize the costs associated with EPR compliance.
Supports the transition to a circular economy.
Shifts the cost of waste management from the taxpayers and municipalities to the producers, internalizing the environmental cost of their products.

Weaknesses ⛔️

Administering and managing EPR schemes can be complex and burdensome for governments and small businesses.
Coordination between all stakeholders including producers, recyclers, and regulators is a must.
Compliance with EPR requirements increases costs for producers.
The success of EPR programs depends on consumer participation in recycling and take-back programs, public education and outreach are a must.

EPR Key Terms & Elements

Covered Products: Products or packaging that are covered under EPR. Some products and packages can be exempted or classified under a different set of rules.

Covered Entities: The stakeholders that are covered under or receive the benefits/financial responsibilities under EPR. These include businesses, industries, governments, universities, and individuals.

Producer Definition: The classification of who/what is considered a producer under EPR. Often policies will highlight minimum thresholds for being a producer to prevent SMEs from excess regulatory burden.

Producer Responsibility Organization (PRO): The organization (typically a non-profit) that is in charge of overseeing EPR on behalf of the producers. They come in different forms such as Individual Producer Responsibility, Collective Producer Responsibility, or Individual Producer Responsibility Option organizations.

Rate Targets: Specific measures of success for the EPR implementation. Rate targets typically refer to recycling or diversion rates.

Recycled Content Targets: Specific measures of success for the EPR implementation in regard to the amount of recycled content having to be integrated into each package.

Material Specific Targets: Targets that may call out a specific material to regulate its use or promote the recycling or most sustainable use of the product. For example aluminum and corrugated cardboard may have higher targets set for it than glass and plastic which have less developed infrastructure.

Targets Set in Legislation: The legislation may specifically set targets or it may leave targets open ended for the PRO to decide once it is formed.

Adjustable Targets: These are goals of the program that may be changed based on the development and implementation. If material recycling depends on the development of new technology and infrastructure, the rate may need to be changed. This can make goals more lofty or more realistic.

Infrastructure: The resources and technology needed to sustainably process materials.

Municipal Reimbursement: A type of financial model where the municipalities run their own recycling program and receive a producer reimbursement to cover the costs.

Financial and Partial Operational: A type of financial model where producers may create their own recycling infrastructure while also contributing monetarily to more mainstream infrastructure as well.

Financial with Municipal Contracts: A type of structure where producers contribute financially and municipalities maintain waste contracts to collect the producers' material.

Financial and Full Operational: A type of structure where producers contribute financially and maintain waste contracts to collect the producers' material.

Financial and Undetermined Operational: A type of structure where producers contribute financially and the maintenance of the waste contract is up to each local area whether the contract is municipal, private hauler, or run by the producer. Essentially, it is dealer's choice.

Government Role: The role the government plays, whether it stops at approval or is in charge of enforcement and fund allocation as well.

Stakeholder Involvement: The participation and creating a seat at a table for anyone who is impacted under EPR.

Recyclable & Recycling Definition: The criteria outlined in the policy define what qualifies as recyclable and what counts as recycling. This may sound obvious, but some states have different processes that count as recycling that other jurisdictions classify as manufacturing, so it cannot be funded under EPR.

Deposit Return Scheme: A system in which a deposit is attached to individual items that the customer can redeem for a monetary reward.

Landfill Surcharges: Fees that are paid based on the amount of material being sent to the landfill on top of the usual tipping fee. This is used as a lever to further disincentivize designing products that can only be sent to landfills.

Pay As You Throw: The concept of having residents pay for the amount of waste they send to landfill. This incentivizes recycling but comes with its own contamination issues where improper recycling (putting trash in the free recycling bin) can run out of control without enforcement.

Minimum Recycled Content Mandates: Regulations that set forth to force producers to adopt a certain amount of recycled content in their product lines. Material markets often favor these as they guarantee a certain amount of material will be used.

Material or Chemical Bans: When undesirable materials or chemicals of concern are banned from use in a certain jurisdiction. PFAS is an example of a widespread ban.

Landfill Bans or Mandatory Recycling: The prevention of waste being sent to landfill and forcing the recycling of those items. Popular landfill bans include mattresses, plastic bottles, corrugated cardboard, and other high-value or high-space materials.

Fee Structures: The rules of financial responsibility for producers under EPR. These can be a fixed rate for each material type, and the amount of it used, a product-specific rate where medical products that are packaged in the same way as consumer goods pay less in fees, or modulated fees that provide incentives for more sustainably designed products.

Producer Exclusions or Exemptions: Products that are exempt from paying fees under EPR due to their essential nature or low waste creation. Some examples include items that are made to be used for over 5 years, such as valuable electronics or medical applications.

Cost Coverage or Fund Allocation: The way the revenue generated under EPR is spent and distributed to stakeholders. Funds can be allocated for the creation of new infrastructure, funding of curbside collection programs, or pollution cleanup.

Eco Modulation: The concept of having producers pay less in fees under EPR laws by designing a more sustainable packaging that minimizes environmental impact. Factors that affect eco modulation include recycled content, recyclability, reuse, light-weighting, and low-emission material selection.

Timelines: The schedule in which EPR programs are rolled out.

Education & Outreach: Initiatives and communications to educate all stakeholders about the impacts and responsibilities of each party under EPR.

So there you have it! All the terms you need to be better equipped in your understanding of EPR.

How can Scrapp help?

We are supporting brands and retailers in their journey through the evolving landscape of EPR and other circular policies. Like all policies, you need data to report on them effectively - that's where we come in. If you are looking for support in your quest for EPR compliance, reach out to the team. We are happy to help!

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