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11 European Producer Responsibility Organizations Release Manifesto on EPR Principles for Packaging

Packaging producer responsibility organizations (PROs) from eleven European countries have issued a joint manifesto for achieving successful extended producer responsibility (EPR) for packaging.

The manifesto and associated media release were published on 18 January, 2013.

The eleven organizations represented are: CONAI (Italy), EcoEmbes (Spain), Ecopack Bulgaria, ECO-ROM Ambalaje (Romania), EKO-KOM (Czech Republic), Envipak (Slovakia), Fost Plus (Belgium), Green Dot Cyprus, Greenpak (Malta), Nedvang (the Netherlands) and Valorlux (Luxembourg).

The manifesto focuses on household packaging and includes five key principles:

• EPR organizations should be owned by the obliged companies and run on a not for profit basis.
• There needs to be strong governmental support and monitoring.
• There are many advantages of having one rather than multiple organizations in each country.
• The EPR organization needs to be set up in a way that ensures sustainable financing.
• The EPR organization should contribute to packaging optimization and waste prevention.

A new association will be launched in spring 2013 in Brussels to carry out the EPR principles outlined in the manifesto. The participating PROs seek industry support of the EPR principles.

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