The Concept of Generalised Extended Producer Responsibility (GEPR)

The notion of Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) has been part of the waste policy for a long time, particularly within the OECD countries. According to the OECD, EPR “aims to make producers responsible for the environmental impacts of their products throughout the product chain, from design to the post-consumer phase”. EPR alleviates the burden of Public Administrations for managing end-of-life products, while -if properly designed- incentivising waste prevention and recycling.

Whereas in traditional EPR, there is one or more PRO for each specific waste stream, and producers have to contribute to these PRO, in Generalised Extended Producer Responsibility (GEPR), specific EPR schemes could continue to exist, and maybe a few more would be created, but there would be also general PRO for all those products with no specific EPR schemes.