A STUDY OF THE EXTENDED PRODUCER RESPONSIBILITY (EPR) SCHEME FOR PLASTIC WASTE MANAGEMENT IN GERMANY

Abstract

Plastic waste management is a major trending issue in the world today, as the volume of waste increases on a daily basis. As the volume of plastic waste continues to rise, the negative consequences have resulted in critical environmental issues confronting many countries in various contexts. Many developed countries, however, have adopted the use of environmental policy instruments as a critical role in determining and improving the state of their environment. Germany is an excellent example of this, where the implementation of the Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) scheme as a policy has aided in the management of product end-of-life cycles and environmental improvements to manufacturing systems. This article discusses Germany's transition from the Producer Responsibility Organization to the EPR scheme. Data were collected from across all 16 federal states' waste management policies. The author was able to analyze and investigate Germany's transition from the Producer Responsibility Organization to the EPR scheme using the case study method. The literature review for this research framework includes the current sustainability state of the environment, the contextual framework, and formulation, assessment, and reports on plastic management.To support the research findings, field observations were conducted by scouting through the plastic bottle collection processes at a selected locations and store outlets in Germany. More research into how to expand EPR programs in Germany to allow for the recovery of other plastic forms is suggested by the researcher.