extended producer responsibility (EPR)

How it is used

Applied to packaging, electronics, batteries, tires and textiles. Producers usually join a producer responsibility organization (PRO) and pay fees based on the amount and type of material they place on the market. EPR schemes put the polluter pays principle into practice.

Example sentences

1. Under extended producer responsibility, we pay a fee for every tonne of packaging we put on the market.

2. The new extended producer responsibility scheme for textiles will fund clothing collection points.

Common collocations

• EPR scheme
• EPR fees
• producer responsibility organization
• place on the market

Related terms

• polluter pays principleThe idea that whoever causes pollution should pay the costs of preventing it, cleaning it up and repairing the damage, instead of the public paying.
• recyclingThe process of collecting used materials such as paper, glass, metal and plastic and turning them into raw materials or new products.
• circular economyAn economic model that keeps products and materials in use for as long as possible through reuse, repair, remanufacturing and recycling, instead of making, using and throwing away.
• e-wasteDiscarded electrical and electronic equipment, such as phones, computers, TVs, fridges and cables, which contains valuable metals as well as hazardous materials.
• waste managementThe collection, transport, sorting, treatment, recycling and disposal of waste, together with the planning and monitoring of these activities.

More terms: Environmental Policy and Law

• Paris Agreement
• environmental permit
• carbon pricing
• emissions trading system (ETS)
• carbon tax
• Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM)
• nationally determined contribution (NDC)
• COP
• phase out
• European Green Deal