Shaping the future of Extended Producer Responsibility in Europe

A new project kicked off for ACR+!  LIFE4EPR project kicked-off. This 24 month-long LIFE project will look both to the past and future of EPR schemes across the EU. Together with our project partners, we will map the existing EPR schemes and PROs in the EU, take stock of what is working and what is not, build an expert group and work towards the development of an EU-wide harmonised product register. We will try to raise awareness among citizens, policy makers and producers about the lessons learned. ACR+ is proud to be part of this consortium bringing together diverse hands-on expertise and an in-depth knowledge of EPR schemes.

Extended Producer Responsibility is a very powerful concept with great potential. Its basic premise is that the producers should take responsibility for the management of their products’ entire lifecycle, not just up to the point when it is sold to another company or an end user. This partially addresses urgent issues such as suitable waste collection thus preventing harm to the environment and human health. At the same time, it shifts the burden of necessary operations towards the producers. In the longer-term it is supposed to make the producers motivated to address the issue of sustainability in a holistic manner. If there is little to manage at the end of the lifecycle, this means the financial resources devoted to its management will be also limited. Products that last longer or create limited impact at the end of their lifecycle will be favoured over others.

However, the impacts of EPR schemes have been limited and varied across types of products. There is a need to understand why this is the case, and how can we design the policy better so that EPR can deliver results matching its potential. There is also a clear indication that a more coherent implementation of EPR schemes is needed across the Member States. LIFE4EPR will contribute to both. It also comes at an important time when the European Commission is looking into building a framework around circular economy. The Circular Economy Act will be unveiled in 2026 however the work behind the scenes is already underway. LIFE4EPR project is an important piece of this puzzle, and it has a real potential to feed-in to the work of the Commission in the coming months.

Therefore, we invite ACR+ members who would like to engage in the process to get in touch with us. There are many opportunities for contributing and making your voices heard and shape this important project together.