EPR can boost recycling rates

United States – Extended producer responsibility (EPR) schemes for packaging and printed paper can significantly increase recycling rates at similar costs to current methods and can be financed directly by industry with limited impacts, according to a new study on an American-designed EPR recycling model.

Released by non-profit organisation Recycling Reinvented, the study analyses a proposed EPR model for printed paper that is administered and managed by industry producers and implemented at the state level. ′We set out to give industry leaders, policy-makers and advocates the real data and analysis they need to make informed decisions on an EPR system designed for American markets,′ says Recycling Reinvented′s executive director Paul Gardner.

According to the organisation, previous results demonstrated that the proposed EPR model is likely to increase recycling rates with costs similar to the current system. In the final study report, one of the most important findings for stakeholders has to do with ′the fees that would be assessed on packaging materials to finance the system′.

The results show that, for most materials, fees on producers ′would be fractions of a penny per unit′. In the case of products with high post-consumer value and well-developed markets, ′producers may even receive credits′, Recycling Reinvented notes.

For more information, visit: www.marketbasedrecycling.com

and www.recycling-reinvented.org