What is - Extended Producer Responsibility?

Extended producer responsibility (EPR) is an environmental policy approach in which a producer’s responsibility for a product is extended to the post consumer stage of the product’s life cycle, including its final disposal. In principle, all the actors along the product chain share responsibility for the life cycle environmental impacts of the whole product system. The greater the ability of the actor to influence the environmental impacts of the product system, the greater the share of responsibility for addressing those impacts should be. These actors are the consumers, the suppliers, and the product manufacturers. Consumers can affect the environmental impacts of products in a number of ways: via purchase choices (choosing environment friendly products), via maintenance and the environmental conscious operation of products, and via careful disposal (e.g., separated disposal of appliances for recycling). Suppliers may have a significant influence by providing manufacturers with environment friendly materials and components. Manufacturers can reduce the life-cycle environmental impacts of their products through their influence on product design, material choices, manufacturing processes, product delivery, and product system support.