Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) is an environmental policy approach that holds producers, manufacturers and distributors accountable for the entire lifecycle of their products, including take-back, recycling and final disposal. EPR aims to reduce waste, encourage sustainable product design and shift the financial burden of waste management from municipalities to producers. As EPR laws continue to proliferate across the United States, companies that use plastic and paper packaging to ship or sell products face increasing compliance challenges.
Recent EPR legislation focuses on several key objectives:
- Establishing Producer Responsibility Organizations (PROs) to manage compliance efforts
- Encouraging recyclable and compostable product and packaging design
- Reducing waste through improved resource efficiency
- Curbing greenwashing by ensuring transparency in sustainability claims
