Extended Producer Responsibility and Product Design
Extended Producer Responsibility and Product Design

Author: Margaret Walls

Publisher:

Published: 2008

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13:

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A core characteristic of extended producer responsibility (EPR) policies is that they place some responsibility for a product's end-of-life environmental impacts on the original producer and seller of that product. The intent is to provide incentives for producers to make design changes that reduce waste, such as improving product recyclability and reusability, reducing material usage, and downsizing products. This paper assesses whether the range of policies that fall under the EPR umbrella can spur this 'design for environment' (DfE). It summarizes the economics literature on the issue and describes conceptually how policies should affect design. It then analyzes three case studies in detail and two more case studies more briefly. The conclusion reached is that some DfE - especially reductions in material use and product downsizing - can be achieved with most EPR policies, including producer take-back mandates and combined fee/subsidy approaches. However, none of these alternative policies as they are currently implemented are likely to have a large impact on other aspects of DfE.

Extended Producer Responsibility
Extended Producer Responsibility

Author: Collectif

Publisher: OECD

Published: 2016-09-20

Total Pages: 315

ISBN-13: 9264256377

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This report updates the 2001 Guidance Manual for Governments on Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR), which provided a broad overview of the key issues, general considerations, and the potential benefits and costs associated with producer responsibility for managing the waste generated by their products put on the market. Since then, EPR policies to help improve recycling and reduce landfilling have been widely adopted in most OECD countries; product coverage has been expanded in key sectors such as packaging, electronics, batteries and vehicles; and EPR schemes are spreading in emerging economies in Asia, Africa and South America, making it relevant to address the differing policy contexts in developing countries. In light of all of the changes in the broader global context, this updated review of the guidelines looks at some of the new design and implementation challenges and opportunities of EPR policies, takes into account recent efforts undertaken by governments to better assess the cost and environmental effectiveness of EPR and its overall impact on the market, and addresses some of the specific issues in emerging market economies.

Design Implications of Extended Producer Responsibility for Durable Products
Design Implications of Extended Producer Responsibility for Durable Products

Author: Ximin (Natalie) Huang

Publisher:

Published: 2015

Total Pages: 42

ISBN-13:

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We analyze product design implications of Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR)-based take-back legislation on durable goods. In particular, we observe that durable product design incentives under EPR may involve an inherent trade-off that has not been explored to date: Durable goods producers can respond to EPR by making their products either more recyclable or more durable, where the former will decrease the unit recycling cost whereas the latter will reduce the volume the producer has to recycle. When these two design attributes do not go hand-in-hand, as is the case for many product categories, product design implications of EPR can be subtle. We find that seemingly similar EPR implementation levers, namely recycling and collection targets, may have opposing effects in driving producers' design choices. Furthermore, more stringent legislative targets do not always guarantee improved product recyclability and durability. In particular, if the objective of EPR is to induce recyclable product designs, a low recycling target accompanied with a high collection target is preferred. On the other hand, if the objective of EPR is to induce durable product designs, a low collection target accompanied with a high recycling target is preferred.

Product Design and Supply Chain Coordination Under Extended Producer Responsibility
Product Design and Supply Chain Coordination Under Extended Producer Responsibility

Author: Ravi Subramanian

Publisher:

Published: 2015

Total Pages: 34

ISBN-13:

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Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) legislation focuses on the life-cycle environmental performance of products and has significant implications for management theory and practice. In this paper, we examine the influence of EPR policy parameters on product design and coordination incentives in a durable product supply chain. We model a manufacturer supplying a remanufacturable product to a customer over multiple periods. The manufacturer invests in two design attributes of the product that impact costs incurred by the supply chain -- performance, which affects the environmental impact of the product during use, and remanufacturability, which affects the environmental impact post-use. Consistent with the goals of EPR policies, the manufacturer and the customer are required to share the environmental costs incurred over the product's life-cycle. The customer has a continuing need for the services of the product and optimizes between the costs of product replacement and the costs incurred during use. We demonstrate how charges during use and post-use can be used as levers to encourage environmentally favorable product design. We analyze the impact of supply chain coordination on design choices and profit and discuss contracts that can be used to achieve coordination, both under symmetric and asymmetric information about customer attributes.

Product Stewardship in Action
Product Stewardship in Action

Author: Helen Lewis

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2017-09-08

Total Pages: 227

ISBN-13: 135128486X

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Product Stewardship in Action describes how and why leading companies are taking responsibility for the environmental impact of their products and packaging. Product stewardship, often referred to as "extended producer responsibility" or EPR, is the idea that everyone that benefits commercially from a product, including manufacturers, distributors and retailers, has a shared responsibility to minimize its environmental impacts. Written primarily for a business audience, it draws on the knowledge and experience of industry practitioners and other experts to provide a structured approach to product responsibility within firms. This will help those new to the field, as well as more experienced practitioners, to develop an effective response to stakeholder concerns about the environmental impacts of their products and packaging. Unlike other resources on product stewardship and EPR, which tend to focus on the design or evaluation of public policy, this book highlights the business case for action. It argues that companies can achieve "shared value" — both public and commercial value — when they take a proactive and knowledge-based approach to the life-cycle management of their products. Product Stewardship in Action focuses on product stewardship as an effective business strategy rather than a philanthropic exercise. To be effective it needs to be based on a good understanding of product impacts and stakeholder concerns, and the risks and opportunities that these present to the business. The most effective responses will be those that address material issues in the product life-cycle while supporting the achievement of other corporate goals and priorities.

PLATE: Product Lifetimes And The Environment
PLATE: Product Lifetimes And The Environment

Author: C.A. Bakker

Publisher: IOS Press

Published: 2017-11-14

Total Pages: 496

ISBN-13: 1614998205

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Product lifetimes are critical for the circular economy, resource efficiency, waste reduction and low carbon strategies for sustainability, and are therefore of interest to academics from many different disciplines as well as original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and other stakeholders. The challenges related to product lifetimes must be tackled from multiple perspectives, making the sharing of knowledge and expertise from different disciplines particularly important. This book presents papers from the second Product Lifetime and the Environment (PLATE) conference, held in Delft, the Netherlands, in November 2017. The conference originated from the desire to bring together academic researchers working in the field of sustainability to benefit from each other’s knowledge and further advance the field. The book includes the 88 full papers delivered at the conference, grouped according to the following 7 conference themes: design for product longevity; product lifetime optimization; cultural perspectives on the throwaway society; circular economy and product lifetimes; business opportunities, economic implications and marketing strategies; consumer influences on product lifetimes; and policy, regulation and legislation. The book will be of interest to all those concerned with sustainable consumption, circular economy and resource efficiency.

Design Implications of Extended Producer Responsibility for Durable Products
Design Implications of Extended Producer Responsibility for Durable Products

Author: Ximin (Natalie) Huang

Publisher:

Published: 2018

Total Pages: 32

ISBN-13:

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We analyze product design implications of Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR)-based take-back legislation on durable goods. In particular, we observe that durable product design incentives under EPR may involve an inherent trade-off that has not been explored to date: Durable goods producers can respond to EPR by making their products more recyclable or more durable, where the former decreases the unit recycling cost and the latter reduces the volume the producer has to recycle. When these two design attributes do not go hand-in-hand, as is the case for many product categories, product design implications of EPR can be counterintuitive. We nd that more stringent collection targets (defined as the portion of total product volume to be collected) or recycling targets (defined as the portion of each collected product unit to be recycled) may imply reduced recyclability or durability. Moreover, although collection and recycling targets appear to be similar EPR implementation levers for increasing the total amount of materials recycled, they in fact have opposing e ects in driving producers' design choices. As a result, EPR may have unintended consequences for the environment. A calibrated numerical study on the Photovoltaic Panel (PVP) industry allows us to show that more stringent EPR requirements (such as those proposed by the recent recast of the WEEE Directive) can lead to a PVP technology choice with lower recyclability and higher durability, and consequently result in higher greenhouse gas emissions. These results call for a careful analysis of the benefits of EPR legislation in the context of durable goods.

Extended Producer Responsibility
Extended Producer Responsibility

Author: Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development

Publisher: OECD Publishing

Published: 2001

Total Pages: 172

ISBN-13:

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This guidance manual presents the potential benefits and costs associated with Extended Producer Responsibility.

Extended producer responsibility
Extended producer responsibility

Author: Zehaie, Ficre

Publisher: Nordic Council of Ministers

Published:

Total Pages: 45

ISBN-13: 9289377771

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Available online: https://pub.norden.org/temanord2024-506/ This report explores the Nordic countries’ experience with Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR), an environmental policy approach that extends the responsibility of producers to include the environmental impact of a product. With a particular focus on EPR schemes for plastic products, the report aims to extract practical insights for the development and expansion of EPR schemes globally.