Waste management and producer responsibility: a score behinda new ahead

摘要

In 2001, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) defined 'extended producer responsi- : bility‘ (EPR) as '(...) an environmental policy approach in : which a producer's responsibility for a product is extended to the post-consumer stage of a product's life cycle'. The aim was to encourage adoption of EPR principles such that man ufacturers would design their products to optimize the potential for recycling the materials and minimize end-of-life impacts on the waste stream. The EPR concept has since gained in importance, particularly in Europe, as a key policy tool. By now, important waste streams such as packaging waste, end-of-life vehicles (ELV), waste electric and electronic equipment (WEEE) and batteries are regulated under EPR schemes.