International Review of Waste Management Policy - Department of ...

15.0 Producer Responsibility – Flanders,
Belgium
15.1 Outline of Policy
Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) aims at creating an incentive for producers of
new products to take into account the treatment of these products when they become
post-consumer waste. By redirecting or internalising the costs for the treatment of the
waste to the producer of the product, the producer will have a clear financial benefit
for designing products that create the least possible waste. As such, it encourages
product design to be as reusable and recyclable as possible. This is also necessary
since producers are required to meet designated recycling targets. While the policy of
EPR was designed as an incentive for waste prevention and ‘design for recyclability’, it
has often resulted in being simply an instrument that helps finance recycling.
EPR is mainly realised through the instrument of the take-back-obligation combined
with recycling targets. In some cases the producers of packaging may collect and
recycle or treat it themselves, and sometimes they finance third parties or
municipalities to do this. Some EPR is limited to a statistical exercise, proving to the
competent authority that waste has been collected and recycled. Communication and
awareness campaigns to promote recycling are frequently financed by the industry
bodies responsible for managing the policy.
15.2 Where Has the Policy Been Applied and Why?
In Belgium the policy of EPR through take-back obligations was a favourite economic
instrument in 1999-2004 when the green party was in the Flemish government (after
2004, some smaller EPR schemes, such as those on agricultural foil and wood waste
were withdrawn). EPR has been implemented for a set of waste streams which go
beyond the EPR imposed by the European recycling directives (packaging, batteries,
WEEE, ELV). Two systems of EPR have been developed:
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� Take-back-obligations for packaging waste organised in a concerted way in
cooperation with the three Belgian regions, implementing the packaging
directive using the instrument of a Belgian cooperation protocol; and
� Acceptance duties organised on a regional level using regional legislation and
instruments, but also in consultation with the other regions. These duties are
imposed for the waste streams described below. Usually an EPR is
implemented through an MBO (milieubeleidsovereenkomst), an environmental
policy agreement between the Flemish government and one or more sector
federations, and brought into practice through an industry body. Table 15-1
shows the industry bodies subject to EPR and the legal starting dates of the
obligations.
International Review of Waste Policy: Annexes