The Concept of Extended Producer Responsibility in the Field of Packaging Industry and the Energy Sector in the Light of the Circular Economy—The Example of Poland

Abstract

The aim of this article is to analyze the effectiveness of the Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) concept for packaging in the context of the transition to a Circular Economy (CE) and the corresponding transformation of the energy sector. The functioning of today’s packaging industry is becoming more and more linked to the assumptions of the CE due to the use and recycling of raw materials. The basic research method used in this work is an analysis of the literature on the links between the concept of the EPR and the CE. The authors limited their research to the selected legal, economic and social aspects of packaging production and management in the European Union (EU). The situation in Poland is discussed in particular and the legal, economic and social specificity of the implementation of the EPR in this country is presented. This paper emphasizes the dependance between the implementation of the EPR concept and the effectiveness of the transformation toward a CE, which is achieved by increasing the circularity in the energy sector.