Extended producer responsibility

About: Extended producer responsibility is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 1120 publications have been published within this topic receiving 26805 citations. The topic is also known as: EPR.

Extending Producer Responsibility: An Evaluation Framework for Product Take-Back Policies

Abstract: Manufacturers are increasingly being required to adhere to product take-back regulations that require them to manage their products at the end of life. Such regulations seek to internalize products' entire life cycle costs into market prices, with the ultimate objective of reducing their environmental burden. This article provides a framework to evaluate the potential for take-back regulations to actually lead to reduced environmental impacts and to stimulate product design changes. It describes trade-offs associated with several major policy decisions, including whether to hold firms physically or financially responsible for the recovery of their products, when to impose recycling fees, whether to include disposal and hazardous substance bans, and whether to mandate product design features to foster reuse and recycling of components and materials. The framework also addresses policy elements that can significantly affect the cost efficiency and occupational safety hazards of end-of-life product recovery operations. The evaluation framework is illustrated with examples drawn from take-back regulations promulgated in Europe, Japan, and the United States governing waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE).

Efficiency of packaging waste management in a European Union candidate country

Abstract: This paper provides a quantitative and qualitative evaluation of Serbia’s packaging waste management system, which is based on the Extended Producer Responsibility scheme (EPR). Additionally, it identifies and discusses the major challenges faced by the system. This paper strives to shed some light on the challenges posed by the implementation of an advanced and highly institutionalized approach to packaging waste management in the context of a European Union candidate country. The analysis indicates that Serbia is a country with an evolving administrative and institutional approach to packaging waste management, which can reach national recovery targets through its EPR system. The main challenges that must be addressed for the system to continue progressing in order to meet European Union’s recovery targets are: (i) increase the low supply of recovered recyclables from the municipal solid waste stream, (ii) close loopholes affecting recycling industry and work of National Recovery Organisations, and (iii) formalization of informal recycling sector’s role within the formal packaging recovery framework.

Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Management

Abstract: Waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE, or e-waste) is defined by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) as “any appliance using an electric power supply that has reached its end of life”. The main services a comprehensive e-waste management system has to deliver in order to ensure sustainability are (1) collection of e-waste; (2) recovery of valuables, such as secondary raw materials; and (3) segregation and safe disposal of hazardous waste. This chapter presents approaches to manage WEEE in different parts of the world. In contrast to traditional waste management approaches, WEEE management has evolved under two new paradigms: closed loop economy and extended producer responsibility, especially in OECD countries. In recent years, e-waste regulations have also been established in a range of developing countries.

Extended Producer Responsibility and the Evolution of Sustainable Specializations: Evidences From the e-Waste Sector

Abstract: Extended producer responsibility (EPR) is an environmental policy approach that could potentially have a positive impact on different determinants of the business environment, including scientific production. Despite that, direct and indirect impacts on those national research environments where EPR is not directly implemented are under-represented in the current literature. Based on a dataset of 411 papers related to e-waste published in the period between 2001 and 2011, our study explores the research dynamics of the e-waste literature and presents a map of the main areas of interest. Two representations of the geographical time frames of research depict the on-going reshaping of worldwide technical specializations and inform policy makers on the evolution of regional needs and competences. The conclusions highlight the importance of worldwide impact assessments of EPR in order to achieve both industrial and environmental goals. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment.

The Implications of Recycling Technology Choice on Extended Producer Responsibility

Abstract: W e study recycling technology choice, a critical factor that has received little attention in the context of extended producer responsibility, and its interaction with product design-for-recycling in driving the environmental benefits of recycling systems. Collective recycling systems have long been criticized for restricting the environmental benefits of extended producer responsibility because of free riding issues among producers, which can undermine incentives for product design-for-recycling. We revisit and refine this assertion by analyzing the interaction between recycling technology and product design-for-recycling choices. We develop game-theoretic models where producers and processors decide on product design-for-recycling and recycling technology choices, respectively. We then compare the equilibrium benefits of recycling in collective and individual systems. The key result in this study is that when recycling technology choice is taken into account, collective recycling systems can lead to higher environmental and economic benefits than individual recycling systems. This is because collective recycling systems provide stronger incentives for recycling technology improvements. In turn, these improvements can help overcome the drawbacks associated with inferior product designfor-recycling outcomes caused by free riding concerns among producers in collective recycling systems. In light of these results, we posit that an exclusive focus on product design-for-recycling to assess the environmental benefits of extended producer responsibility-based recycling systems may need scrutiny. Producers and policy makers may need to evaluate recycling systems with respect to the incentives they provide for both product design-for-recycling and recycling technology improvements.