Extended producer responsibility

Tires are an example of products subject to extended producer responsibility in many industrialized countries.

Extended producer responsibility (EPR) is a strategy to add all of the estimated environmental costs associated with a product throughout the product life cycle to the market price of that product, contemporarily mainly applied in the field of waste management.[1] Such societal costs are typically externalities to market mechanisms, with a common example being the impact of cars.

Extended producer responsibility legislation is a driving force behind the adoption of remanufacturing initiatives because it "focuses on the end-of-use treatment of consumer products and has the primary aim to increase the amount and degree of product recovery and to minimize the environmental impact of waste materials".[2]

Passing responsibility to producers as polluters is not only a matter of environmental policy but also the most effective means of achieving higher environmental standards in product design.[3]

  1. ^ OECD (2001). Extended Producer Responsibility: A Guidance Manual for Governments. Paris: OECD Publications Service. doi:10.1787/9789264189867-en. ISBN 9789264189867.
  2. ^ Johnson, Michael R.; McCarthy, Ian P. (2014-10-01). "Product recovery decisions within the context of Extended Producer Responsibility". Journal of Engineering and Technology Management. Engineering and Technology Management for Sustainable Business Development. 34: 9–28. doi:10.1016/j.jengtecman.2013.11.002.
  3. ^ Nakajima, Nina; Vanderburg, Willem H. (December 2006). "A Description and Analysis of the German Packaging Take-Back System". Bulletin of Science, Technology & Society. 26 (6): 510–517. doi:10.1177/0270467606295193. ISSN 0270-4676.