Although public awareness of the impact on the environment has grown, the amount of packaging waste in Europe is steadily increasing. Despite technical opportunities and political backing, an actual turnaround cannot be observed. In particular, the economic perspective of waste prevention has so far developed insufficiently. In addition, there is little publicly available information on the costs of waste-preventing packaging solutions.
Against this background, the aim of the project was to analyse different Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) systems for packaging waste in Europe and to identify options for improving the efficiency of packaging waste management. The Wuppertal Institute focused on the heterogeneity of tariff schemes in the different European countries. It analysed both what factors influence the level of fees charged by Producer Responsibility Organisations to packaging producers and how waste collection management is carried out in the different systems. To gather this information, the researchers conducted a survey among members of EXPRA (Extended Producer Responsibility Alliance) and further organisations. On this basis, they drew conclusions on options to improve the efficiency of packaging waste management, e.g. with regard to eco-modulation of licencing fees.