The Extended Producer Responsibility Alliance (EXPRA) welcomes the European Commission’s acknowledgement that Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) schemes form an essential part of an efficient waste management process, and their potential could be put to use as long as the right framework is applied.
Given that EPR is implemented in a variety of ways across the bloc, the proposed common requirements for EPR are likely to ensure a level-playing field for producers, Producer Responsibility Organisations (PROs) and other actors in the waste management chain. EXPRA, however, demands that these criteria are enhanced, in particular as concerns the roles and responsibilities of the various EPR players, and formalised in the Packaging and Packaging Waste Directive (PPWD), which is the key Directive for the packaging sector. This would facilitate the functioning of EPR within this specific waste stream, that involves a high number of companies from various industry sectors and requires a dense waste management infrastructure.