Leading businesses call for adoption of Extended Producer Responsibility for packaging

Today, for the first time, more than 100 businesses in the packaging value chain, together with more than 50 other organisations, have publicly announced their support for the adoption of Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR).

The organisations say that that without EPR, packaging collection and recycling is unlikely to be meaningfully scaled and tens of millions of tonnes of packaging will continue to end up in the environment every year.

A statement, published today by the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, has been signed by leading brands and retailers (including Beiersdorf, Danone, Diageo, Ferrero, FrieslandCampina, H&M, Henkel, Inditex, L’Oréal, Mars, Mondi, Nestlé, PepsiCo, Pick n Pay, Reckitt, Schwarz Group, The Coca-Cola Company, Unilever and Walmart), manufacturers and recyclers (including Borealis, Berry Global, DS Smith, Mondi, Tetra Pak, Indorama Ventures and Veolia), investors such as European Investment Bank and Closed Loop Partners, and NGOs including WWF, The Recycling Partnership, The Pew Charitable Trusts and As You Sow.

For a circular economy, packaging that can’t be eliminated or reused must be collected, sorted and recycled, or composted after use. But the Foundation says that currently, the economics do not stack up: collection, sorting and recycling, or processing packaging costs more than the revenues made from selling the recycled materials.

EMF is calling for dedicated, ongoing and sufficient funding to make the economics of recycling work. It hopes that its statement and the supporting position paper set out why mandatory, fee-based EPR is the only proven and likely way to provide this funding.

By signing the statement, endorser organisations recognise this need and make three firm commitments:

1. Ensure their entire organisation is aligned on, and their actions are in line with this statement
2. Be constructive in their engagement with governments and other stakeholders: advocating for the establishment of well-designed EPR policies and being supportive in working out how to implement and continuously improve EPR schemes in the local context
3. Engage with their peers and the relevant associations and collaborations we are part of to work towards aligning their positions and actions accordingly.

To hear expert opinions on EPR, tune in to our next Sustainable Packaging Summit panel discussion on Thursday 17^th June at 16:00 CEST. Click here for more information.