Waste management and producer responsibility: a score behind - a new ahead

Dieser Beitrag ist mit Zustimmung des Rechteinhabers aufgrund einer (DFG geförderten) Allianz- bzw. Nationallizenz frei zugänglich.This publication is with permission of the rights owner freely accessible due to an Alliance licence and a national licence (funded by the DFG, German Research Foundation) respectively.In 2001, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) defined ‘extended producer responsibility’ (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 manufacturers 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