Three Decades of Extended Producer Responsibility: How Waste Policy Reshapes Global Manufacturing
Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR), a policy concept first proposed in 1990, has evolved into a global force transforming how products are designed and recycled. By making manufacturers responsible for end-of-life waste management, EPR creates financial incentives for more sustainable product design. The policy approach has expanded from packaging to electronics, batteries, and furniture across Europe and Asia.
The Origins and Evolution of EPR
Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR), a policy framework that has fundamentally altered waste management systems worldwide, recently passed the three-decade mark since its conceptualization, according to industry reports. The concept emerged in 1990 when Swedish academic Thomas Lindhqvist first proposed and named the approach, sources indicate. Reid Lifset, who collaborated with Lindhqvist shortly after the concept’s introduction, reportedly coined the now-ubiquitous “EPR” acronym, though not the underlying idea itself.