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EPR REPORT CARD 2011
3
Extended producer responsibility (EPR) is defined by the
Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development
(OECD)* as an environmental policy approach in which
a producer’s responsibility, physical and/or financial,
for a product is extended to the post-consumer stage
of the product’s life cycle. This approach is the basis for
the Canadian Council of Ministers of the Environment’s
(CCME) Canada-wide Action Plan (CAP) for EPR. The plan
identifies two phases, the first comprising seven material
groups and the second comprising five material groups that
regulatory jurisdictions should target for EPR.
Under EPR, producers are responsible for designing,
operating and paying for programs to manage the
products and packaging they supply into the marketplace
at end of life. Producers, described as brand owners,
manufacturers and first importers, assume responsibility
when users put the designated products and materials
into the program’s collection system.
How is EPR different from product stewardship?
Some waste diversion programs are designed and
operated by governments (municipalities or provinces)
or by quasi-governmental
administrative authorities
in which producers, if
involved, are in a minority.
These programs are
financed by government
or by fees levied by
government on producers
and/or consumers. These
programs are considered
examples of product
stewardship or partial EPR,
depending on the degree
of producer involvement in designing, operating and/or
financing the program.
Only programs where producers are solely and fully
responsible for designing, operating and financing the
diversion program and are accountable for the program’s
environmental performance are considered full EPR.
Transitioning from product stewardship to EPR
Diversion programs implemented by provinces and
territories were often originally designed as product
stewardship programs, delivered by government or by
quasi-governmental administrative authorities. Given
the direct or indirect involvement of government,
these programs typically deliver the province’s desired
environmental outcomes.
As product stewardship programs are transitioned
to EPR to comply with CCME’s CAP, governments face
the challenge of establishing an effective policy and
regulatory framework that both transitions responsibility
to producers to design, operate and finance diversion
programs while ensuring that producer-operated programs
continue to deliver the desired environmental outcomes.
Producers design,
operate and finance
diversion program
Governments design,
operate and finance
diversion program
Producers design and
operate diversion program
and consumers finance
through point-of-sale fees
Governments design
and operate diversion
program and
producers finance
program
Governments design
and operate program
and producers pay
partial cost of program
Multi-stakeholders,
including producers, design
and operate diversion
program and producers
finance program
Multi-stakeholders,
including producers, design
and operate diversion
program and producers pay
partial cost of program
Full EPR
Stewardship
Partial EPR
Multi-stakeholders,
including producers, design
and operate diversion
program and consumers
finance program through
point-of-sale fees
What is EPR?