“Extended producer responsibility” (EPR) is an environmental policy strategy in which the responsibility of producers for their products is extended in varying degrees to include costs and the management of end-of-life (EoL) waste, especially the recycling of their products. The strategy emerged in the early 1990s in Europe, most prominently with the enactment of the German Packaging Ordinance in 1992. Thomas Lindhqvist, a scholar at Lund University, is credited with coining the term.
While some forms of voluntary EPR exist, most are based on legislative obligations requiring companies to pay fees to support the costs of organizing the (separate) collection, sorting, and recycling of specific waste streams to meet sub-national (state or provincial), national, or supra-national (European) targets.
The Organisation for Economic Cooperation & Development (OECD) describes EPR as having two separate objectives: (i) to shift responsibility upstream for end-of-life products and packaging to the producer and away from local governments and (ii) to incentivize producers to incorporate environmental considerations in the design of their products and packages.
Many developed countries and increasingly, some developing countries, have EPR policies in place for packaging, electronics, batteries, tires, or end-of-life vehicles. EPR is also used to manage other products when they become waste including waste paper, a variety of household hazardous wastes such as pesticides, fluorescent bulbs, and used motor oil. More recently it has been applied to left-over pharmaceuticals, mattresses, and furniture.
For a slightly longer description, see https://www.beyond-buzzwords.com/epr. For more detailed descriptions, use the reference database!