This brief presents insights and recommendations on the design and implementation of Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) schemes, drawn from France’s history of EPR implementation since 1992. It focuses in particular on an analysis of EPR for household packaging, textiles, cloth and shoes, and toys. The main conclusions are: (detailed recommendations appear in the conclusion) ● EPR is not merely a technical arrangement: strong political direction is needed for the definition and oversight of financial modalities, in order to avoid economic fall-out for reuse and recycling operators. ● From the outset, EPR’s has had only a marginal role in reducing packaging waste, and particularly plastics: it can, under certain conditions, foster eco-design or partly finance re-use, but it was not designed to reduce the amount of packaging placed on the market. ● Given the limitations of EPR, it is essential to resort to other waste prevention and reuse levers to complement EPR, such as: production and market placement reuse quotes, regulation, including bans on single-use, short-lived or hard-to-repair products, and taxation