We trust you have enjoyed a delightful summer and are geared up for a productive autumn as September kicks off a season filled with exciting developments.
The 10th anniversary of EXPRA was an outstanding milestone for the International Alliance.
Since its founding in 2013, the Extended Producer Responsibility Alliance (EXPRA) has expanded its network worldwide to represent over 32 packaging and packaging waste recovery systems from 30 countries, with the latest warm welcome to new partner from New Zealand.
Over the years, EXPRA – Extended Producer Responsibility Alliance has become an important stakeholder platform that plays a key role in improving packaging collection, recycling, and recovery, where members share their know-how on the packaging waste landscape, exchange best practices, and systematically collaborate to improve the extended producer responsibility schemes.
During the last EXPRA General Assembly meeting, members of the EXPRA have elected the Board of Directors for the next two years, enlarging its number to 11 for the 2021-2023 mandate, and elected Mr. Claude Turping, CEO of Valorlux asbl- Luxembourg, as the new President of EXPRA.
Mr. Turping has been CEO of Valorlux since March 2016. Prior to this, he worked in Société Nationale de Contrôle Technique Luxemburg and the metal Industry. In becoming EXPRA’s new President, he succeeds Mr. Oscar Martin Riva, former CEO of Ecoembes, Spain.
The global interest in Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) continues to expand, where the foundational concept of EPR consistently remains a top priority on our schedule. This emphasis isn’t limited solely to legislative advancements within Europe, including the release of the Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation proposal by the close of 2022 and the ongoing review of the Waste Framework Directive. It extends internationally as well, marked by its pivotal role acknowledged in the Global Plastics Treaty during the forthcoming negotiations with the OECD.
During the second session of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee to develop an international legally binding instrument on plastic pollution, the OECD with the support of EXPRA organized 2-day workshop in Paris on Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) schemes: “EPR- New Insights and the Way Forward”. The workshop focused on EPR packaging, impact of EPR on product design and recycling performance, and provided a unique occasion to present the main opportunities and challenges of fee modulation worldwide, gathering in one place all the experiences accumulated in the different EPR systems where fee modulation has been applied. One entire session was dedicated to the interplay between EPR and reducing plastic pollution in the environment through the recent UN Global Treaty on Plastic Pollution.
Following the official release of the legislative proposal for a Regulation on Packaging and
Packaging Waste on November 30, 2022, EXPRA has been fully engaged with the EU institutions and other key stakeholders. The organization has been actively promoting its views and proposals developed with the key support and contribution of the EXPRA working groups.
The Extended Producer Responsibility Alliance (EXPRA) supports the Commission’s proposal to set up a forward-looking and ambitious regulatory framework for packaging waste management enabling national and local entities to implement effective and efficient packaging and packaging waste management systems. The adoption of realistic and holistic policies is necessary to ensure packaging functionality is safeguarded whilst contributing to reducing the climate and environmental impact of packaging. Not all circular policies have an equally positive effect on the climate, and a scientifically robust approach based on life-cycle assessments should be favored. Regulatory predictability is key to ensuring investment security, especially in waste management infrastructures. In this regard, EXPRA was able to present series of recommendations to enhance the proposal, based on the extensive expertise of our members in EPR, waste management, and data collection throughout Europe.
The European Commission has recently released a report identifying Member States at risk of not meeting the 2025 preparing for re-use and recycling target for municipal waste, the 2025 recycling target for packaging waste and the 2035 municipal waste landfilling reduction target. EXPRA has organized internal webinars to present the results of the reports and has offered direct assistance to the EC with concrete proposals from EXPRA members.
During this summer, once more, reports and updates from our EXPRA members will underscore the unmatched efficiency and broad acknowledgment of Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) as the prime driver for encouraging more eco-conscious product design and advancing circular practices. Undoubtedly, our members remain dedicated to enhancing their performance through the integration of cost-effective solutions and the implementation of best practices.
We invite you to delve into our Summer Newsletter we promise you an engaging read.