How does extended producer responsibility shift disposal costs from municipalities to producers?

Extended producer responsibility (EPR) shifts the economic burden of waste management from local municipalities to producers by making the latter fiscally or physically accountable for a product's disposal once it reaches the end of its useful life.1

Traditionally, municipalities bear the rising costs of waste disposal, which are driven by increasing waste volumes and the technical challenges of operating landfills and incinerators. Under EPR, this responsibility is moved "upstream" to the producer. This shift occurs through two primary mechanisms:1

• Direct Physical Responsibility: Producers may be required to physically collect and process their products at the end of their life cycle.1
• Financial Responsibility: Producers may fund the disposal process by working with a third-party producer responsibility organization (PRO), which manages the collection and processing of materials on their behalf.1

By internalizing these costs, EPR provides an economic incentive for companies to design products that are easier to recycle and contain fewer toxic components, as doing so theoretically reduces the producer's own disposal expenses.1