What is Extended Producer Responsibility?

It’s well known that s consumers we are growing to be more discerning about the gifts we buy. As well as their durability, value for money and aesthetic appeal, we are looking more carefully than ever at their sustainability.

In the UK, there are producer responsibility regulations inplace, but these are not all-encompassing and are not as thorough as they couldbe. A philosophy and set of practices known as Extended Producer Responsibility(EPR) can be beneficial for a business as well as helping protect the planet.

How is it done?

EPR can be achieved at many levels of a business:

• Regularly and correctly recycling in offices,factories and warehouses;
• Designing recyclable packaging and products;
• Buying from local suppliers;
• Buying from suppliers who use sustainablematerials;
• Using take-back initiatives.

Who will benefit?

Aside from the obvious benefits to the sustainability of thenatural world, there are commercial reasons to adopt stricter sustainability measures.

With consumers paying closer scrutiny to the environmentalimpact of the supply chain and the high street, the PR opportunities fromimproving your green credentials, if maximised, could prove to put yourbusiness ahead of your competitors. This in turn will create stronger customerloyalty and ensure that you keep all of your accounts and repeat customers.

Using local suppliers, local recycling services and so onwill create and maintain jobs, or you might make some of your sustainabilityprocesses internal and create jobs within your own business.

You can find more information about producer responsibility law on the Government website or through Valpacs website

You canfind out more about EPR on Wikipedia.