On 21 September 2021, the PREVENT Waste Alliance's online panel discussion with the Ellen MacArthur Foundation on mandatory and voluntary funding mechanisms to support a circular economy for plastics and packaging will take place. Collecting, sorting, recycling and disposing of waste is a costly endeavour. For many municipalities, the costs are higher than the money that can be made from selling recycled materials. There is a need for financing that is ongoing, dedicated and sufficient, to close the funding gap and ensure packaging waste is kept in the economy, and out of the environment.
Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) is an environmental policy approach, based on the 'polluter-pays' principle, in which whoever introduces packaging to the market is responsible for the financial cost of collecting, sorting and recycling their products after they become waste. Existing EPR schemes for packaging suggest that it is a promising approach to address increasing packaging waste and pollution.
Different experts will discuss why EPR can be seen as a necessary part of the solution, what the implementation process looks like in emerging countries such as Vietnam and South Africa, and how other approaches such as plastic credits fit in. Dr. Henning Wilts, Director of the Circular Economy Division at the Wuppertal Institute, will join Fausto Tazzi, La Vie - Nestlé Waters Vietnam, Dr. Fanny Quertamp, Expertise France, and Roan Snyman, Pick & Pay, as an expert in this panel.
The registration for the panel discussion on 21 September 2021 can be found under the link below.