Paradigm Shift in European Waste Law? – Remarks on the Institutionalisation of Extended Producer Responsibility

Abstract

The introduction in the 1990s of the principle of extended producer responsibility was a major environmental policy innovation of the European waste legislation. In line with this principle certain member states and, subsequently, the EU itself started to delegate waste management responsibilities from the holder of the waste to the manufacturer (or the first distributor) of the original product. While the efficiency of extended producer responsibility as a policy tool is questionable, it was nonetheless elevated among the core instruments of national waste action by the revision of EU waste law between 2016 and 2018. Consequently, the financial and organisational burdens of waste management can now be fully placed on the shoulders of producers. Yet, the new legislation does not create an entirely clear regulatory environment for producers or authorities alike. This study aims to clarify some of the critical distinctions under the new system of extended producer responsibility.