EPR in Europe

European countries have been global leaders on environmental health issues, and have recently introduced a new EPR policy mechanism called Integrated Product Policy (IPP). IPP addresses the whole lifecycle of a product, which avoids shifting environmental problems from one lifecycle stage to another or one environmental medium to another. It is a new area of environmental policy, which is receiving increasing attention in the European Union. The Netherlands, Denmark, Sweden, Finland, and Austria are beginning to articulate comprehensive policies on products and the environment.

Types of Policies Included in Integrated Product Policy

• Measures aimed at reducing and managing wastes generated by the consumption of products;
• Measures targeted at the innovation of cleaner products;
• Measures to create markets for cleaner products;
• Measures for transmitting information up and down the product chain; and
• Measures that allocate responsibility for managing the environmental burdens of product systems.

See the right hand column for more information on European EPR initiatives for packaging, electronics, and vehicles.