Replacing “Reduce, Reuse, Recycle” with “Reduce, Reduce, Reduce”: Extended Producer Responsibility in the European Union, Germany, and the United States
If you’re an American who has traveled to Germany, you may have noticed the multitude of recycling bins that color residential streets.[1] Germany is known for its impressive recycling system, [2] which has required the sorting of recyclables since the enactment of the Waste Disposal Act in 1972 (now the Waste Management Act). [3] The system requires Germans to sort their waste into six differently colored bins: yellow for plastics, blue for paper and cardboard, white for clear glass, brown for colored glass, green for green glass, and a sixth bin for organic material and food waste.[4] Failure to sort one’s trash can be met with a fine of up to €2500.[5] Germany is the most efficient country at recycling waste, with a rate of 68% of municipal waste, compared to just 35% in the United States.[6]
But in neither Germany nor the United States does all of the waste picked up from residential curbs as recycling end up recycled.[7] In fact, by 2016, China was processing at least half of the world’s recyclable waste, repurposing items such as water bottles to make socks and plastic fibers to create fabrics.[8] But this system all changed in 2018, when China realized that it was no longer cost-effective to recycle other countries’ plastic waste because of the hefty investment they had to make in properly cleaning plastics before they could be recycled.[9] As a result, much of the recyclable waste generated by wealthy countries, including Germany and the United States, that was previously repurposed by China is now dumped in other countries such as Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam, Thailand, and the Philippines.[10] The recyclable material that makes its way to these Southeast Asian countries is often abandoned in nature or burned, releasing toxic chemicals.[11] Nevertheless, communities continue to encourage their residents to recycle, in part out of a concern that, if people stop recycling now, it will be more difficult to train them to begin recycling again when it is worthwhile.[12]
This situation has led scientists and politicians to conclude that recycling is not enough. While wealthy countries previously emphasized recycling, the European Union (EU) is now enacting laws that discourage single-use plastics and the creation of other packaging in the first place.[13] As of January 2019, in addition to seeing a rainbow of waste bins on residential sidewalks, Americans who visit Germany will find supermarkets stocked with glass jars of yogurt, cardboard cartons of milk, and shoppers carrying reusable tote bags into which they place cardboard boxes to keep the bottom of their bags flat and expanded.[14] I first noticed this when I lived in Germany in the summer of 2019. At the time, I remarked to my German host mother that it was impressive how many items in Germany were packaged in glass, to which she responded that “they have to be. There are laws in Germany requiring recyclable packaging.”
My host mother was talking about the Verpackungsgesetz (the Packaging Act), which came into effect on January 1, 2019, replacing an older and less effective Packaging Ordinance.[15] Unlike recycling laws, which obligate the public to recycle the waste that accumulates in their houses, the 2019 Verpackungsgesetz goes to the source, requiring manufacturers to use recyclable packaging and to register that packaging with the government in a central register, referred to as LUCID.[16] The Verpackungsgesetz was strengthened earlier this year through amendments that eliminated previous exemptions. Now, not only must the packaging that businesses give to consumers meet more stringent recycling standards, but packaging that goes to other businesses must meet those standards as well. [17]
This concept is not new, however. Laws such as the Verpackungsgesetz are a form of Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR).[18] The idea behind EPR legislation is to manage increasing amounts of consumer waste by making producers and manufacturers responsible for a product when it is no longer in use.[19] In 2018, the EU issued a Packaging Directive stipulating that, by the end of 2024, EU countries should have established EPR schemes for all packaging.[20]
In the United States, by contrast, such EPR laws have been enacted only on a state-by-state basis.[21] In July 2021, Maine became the first of eight states to enact an EPR law for plastics and other packaging materials.[22]
Across the globe, major companies like Amazon have adapted to the EPR requirements in various countries in order to continue conducting business in those nations.[23] However, despite having changed their packaging to comply with EPR requirements in countries and states containing them, large companies often continue to use waste-generating and non-recyclable materials in markets where that is allowed.[24] Is the solution to pressure large companies by enacting more widespread EPR laws?
Julia Beckett is a staff member of Fordham International Law Journal Volume XLVI.
This is a student blog post and in no way represents the views of the Fordham International Law Journal.
[1] See A Brief History of Waste Management in Germany, Amherst Coll. Global Educ. Blog (May 17, 2019) https://amherstglobaleducationblog.sites.amherst.edu/2019/history-of-waste-management-in-germany/.
[2] See Emily Holden, US Produces Far More Waste and Recycles Far Less of it Than Other Developed Countries, The Guardian: United States of Plastic (July 3, 2019), https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/jul/02/us-plastic-waste-recycling.
[3] A Brief History of Waste Management in Germany, supra note 1
[4] See Eduardo Bravo, The German Recycling System: The World’s Best Recycling Country, Tomorrow City (Sept. 2, 2021) https://tomorrow.city/a/german-recycling-system.
[5] See Grace Dobush, The Brutal Reality Of Being The World's 'Best' Recycler, HuffPost (July 19, 2019, 5:45 AM) https://www.huffpost.com/entry/germany-recycling-reality_n_5d30fccbe4b004b6adad52f8.
[6] Holden, supra note 2
[7] See Sarah Gonzalez & Kenny Malone, So, Should We Recycle?, Nat’l Pub. Radio: Planet Money (July 12, 2019, 11:50 PM), https://www.npr.org/2019/07/12/741283641/episode-926-so-should-we-recycle; Dobush, supra note 5.
[8] Gonzalez & Malone, supra note 7; Dobush, supra note 5
[9] Gonzalez & Malone, supra note 7; Dobush, supra note 5
[10] Dobush, supra note 5.
[11] Id.
[12] Gonzalez & Malone, supra note 7.
[13] Dobush, supra note 5.
[14] This observation is based on the author’s personal experience.
[15] Gesetz über das Inverkehrbringen, die Rücknahme und die hochwertige Verwertung von Verpackungen [Verpackungsgesetz] (Packaging Act), July 5, 2017, BGBI I.S. at 2234, last amended by Gesetz [G], Sept. 22, 2021, BGBI. I S. at 4363, art. 2 (Ger.) http://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/verpackg/index.html.
[16] Packaging Act: Amendments to the Packaging Act 2022, Ionos Digit. Guide (Mar. 16, 2022) (Ger.), https://www.ionos.de/digitalguide/websites/online-recht/deutsches-verpackungsgesetz/.
[17] Id.
[18] See Kaela Martins, Extended Producer Responsibility Bills Gain Momentum, Retail Indus. Leaders Ass’n, (Aug. 30, 2021), https://www.rila.org/blog/2021/04/extended-producer-responsibility-bills.
[19] Id.
[20] Packaging Waste, European Commission: Environment, https://environment.ec.europa.eu/topics/waste-and-recycling/packaging-waste_en.
[21] Martins, supra note 18.
[22] See Allyn Stern et al., Maine Becomes First State to Sign Extended Producer Responsibility Law for Packaging, Other States with Plastics and Packaging Bills May Follow Shortly, Beveridge & Diamond, (Aug. 11, 2021) https://www.bdlaw.com/publications/maine-becomes-first-state-to-sign-extended-producer-responsibility-law-for-packaging-other-states-with-plastics-and-packaging-bills-may-follow-shortly/.
[23] Stuff You Should Know, We Need More Sustainable Packaging, Like, Yesterday, iHeartRadio (Aug. 30, 2022, 5:00 AM), https://omny.fm/shows/stuff-you-should-know-1/we-need-more-sustainable-packaging-like-yesterday.
[24] Id.