Organisations are subject to increasing legislation that places responsibility on them for end-of-life management of products
The EU WEEE (Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment), Batteries and Packaging Directives are pieces of legislation in the European Union (EU) that focus on waste management, and include Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) provisions. Obligated companies must take care of the appropriate treatment of the products and packaging which they 'place on the EU market' for the first time when they eventually become waste.
Each year, legislation is on the rise for other waste streams, such as textiles. This is happening not only in Europe and it increases the EPR compliance burden in a global marketplace.
Non-compliance by obligated companies can lead to heavy fines, stop-sells and other regulatory enforcement action.
Under these types of legislation, 'producers' are generally required to register with and report product and packaging data to the appropriate local regulatory authority and/or a Producer Compliance Scheme (PCS) in each country. They must then provide for the collection and treatment of the products and packaging that they place on each country market at end-of-life, with the approach to this differing based on factors such as the product or packaging type and classification.
What are the specific challenges?
EPR requirements are implemented and enforced in different ways in different countries
Even within the EU where individual Member State regulations stem from the same umbrella Directives, there are disharmonised registration processes, varying reporting intervals, deadlines and other formal specifications unique to each country, which are an additional challenge for companies to manage.
EARN's managed compliance services take care of the necessary work to help your company navigate complex EPR legislation, successfully complete the many processes to meet your legal obligations and avoid regulatory complications. We give you peace of mind that your business complies to differing and ever changing EPR requirements in each country where your products are sold.