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Extended Producer Responsibility and the Impact of Online Sales
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Extended Producer Responsibility and the Impact of Online Sales

Extended Producer Responsibility

In this section, the speaker discusses extended producer responsibility (EPR) as a policy instrument aimed at dealing with different waste streams and increasing recycling rates. The speaker emphasizes that EPR requires producers to take responsibility for the end-of-life management of their products and pay associated fees.

Importance of EPR Compliance

  • Online sales exacerbate issues around free-riding, where producers do not comply with their obligation to take back products at the end of life and not paying related producer fees.
  • Between 5% and 10% of electric and electronic equipment products on the market are not registered or complying with EPR systems, leading to non-payment of associated fees.

Addressing Free-Riding

  • Awareness-raising measures could be taken to inform sellers operating on multi-seller platforms such as Amazon and eBay about their obligations under EPR.
  • Existing EPR regulations can be better enforced through coordinated efforts between enforcement agencies to address overseas offenders in order to reduce duplication of effort and costs.
  • A harmonized system for the registration of producers could be implemented so that they would follow the same procedure independently of jurisdiction.

Additional Resources

  • The OECD has recently published a report titled "Extended Producer Responsibility and Impact of Online Sales," which provides more detail on this issue.
Video description

Peter Börkey of the OECD discusses extended producer responsibility and the successes and challenges when it comes to holding sellers and producers accountable for the environmental impact of their products. With the surge of online sales, specifically among electric and electronic equipment, free riding has become a problem. Whether intentional or not, the issue of free riding must be addressed. The video explores potential policy responses. Read the OECD Working Paper on this topic: http://oe.cd/epr-policy