As a coalition of businesses, municipalities, waste managers, and civil society organisations committed to building a truly circular, fair, and resilient European bioeconomy, we call on the European Commission to consider introducing Extended Producer Responsibility for food products.
The forthcoming EU Circular Economy Act (CEA) offers a unique opportunity to underpin the binding EU food waste reduction targets and the obligation to separately collect bio-waste with a robust financial mechanism.
Available in English.
The Circular Economy Act (CEA) could overcome the current limitations of Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR), which prioritises waste management over more impactful circular strategies such as reuse and repair.
To drive real waste reduction, Zero Waste Europe proposes splitting EPR fees into two distinct budgets: one for waste management and another for waste reduction (supporting mid-level R-strategies). A temporary ‘transition to circularity’ fund could bridge the gap until detailed data is available to introduce specific targets.
Strong governance, transparent reporting, and legally binding targets are essential to ensure EPR schemes effectively finance and scale circular business models across the EU.
Policy brief and infographic available in English, and Polish.
To address the European Union’s critical challenges in food waste prevention and management, Zero Waste Europe (ZWE) proposes introducing Extended Producer Responsibility for food products (EPRFP) in the upcoming EU Circular Economy Act. This measure could partially shift financial responsibility from public authorities and taxpayers to food producers and retailers, who have significant influence over consumer behaviour and waste generation patterns.
ZWE’s policy recommendations on EPRFP follow the findings and learnings of ”The case for Extended Producer Responsibility for food products” study, co-authored with the Bio-based Industries Consortium (BIC).
Available in English, and Polish.
European and French civil society organisations call on the European Commission to let the French draft fast fashion law pass. The 66 signatories highlight that the French law is the first of it’s kind to counter the most harmful commercial practices seen in the fashion sector today.
The law would give Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) for textiles more power to penalise fast fashion practices through the ‘eco-modulation of EPR fees’ – waste management fees that producers already pay in France. This could disincentivise particularly wasteful business models and curb overproduction and consumption in the sector.
Available in English.
The European Union faces a critical resource efficiency challenge: food waste represents 8-10% of global greenhouse gas emissions while EU citizens generate 129kg of food waste per year.
Despite the 2024 EU mandate requiring separate collection of bio-waste, only 26% of kitchen waste is successfully captured, with current food waste collection at just 15.1 million tonnes annually. This number is far below the theoretical potential of 60 million tonnes.
Could Extended Producer Responsibility for Food Products (EPRFP) be a solution?
This study by the Bio-based Industries Consortium (BIC) and Zero Waste Europe analyses how implementing EPRFP could address food waste prevention and collection challenges. Unlike traditional waste management funding for bio-waste, which relies entirely on public authorities and taxpayers, EPRFP would shift partial financial and operational responsibility to actors who can significantly influence consumer behaviour and waste generation patterns.
Full study available in English.
Executive Summary available in German.
Our society is continuously, and often unknowingly, exposed to a low-level mixture of harmful chemicals – a problem that remains both underestimated and largely unaddressed. This policy briefing highlights the clear health and economic consequences of the European Union’s (EU) lax toxic-chemical policies, and proposes that these be strengthened in the upcoming Circular Economy Act (CEA).
The CEA would thus serve as a guiding compass to drive resilient economies and strategic use of the EU’s resources, while ensuring a safe and toxic-free transition for workers, small and medium enterprises (SMEs), and citizens. A CEA with stringent toxic-chemical policies would allow the EU to harness circularity and competitiveness to better protect its citizens, and prevent a future public health crisis.
Available in English.
This publication presents the current state of play of national transpositions of textiles Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) across the EU, as of November 2025. The case studies of established systems in France and the Netherlands are included, as well as examples of other developing EPR systems across Greece, Hungary, Latvia and Spain. This overview should serve as informative for relevant actors and interested audiences.
Textiles EPR is one proposed solution to embed polluter-pays regulations and support stakeholders across the sector who deal with discarded textiles at various points, such as municipalities, waste managers, sorters, reuse operators, social enterprises, repairers and others. Focusing on setting up ambitious national textiles EPR systems across Member States is as timely as ever, due to the ongoing crisis of the reuse sector that deals with growing volumes of donated textiles and a gap in mandatory transposition of textiles EPR.
Available in English.
A coalition of 34 organisations and businesses and 40 European cities and companies have joined forces to call on the European Commission to unlock the untapped potential of Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) as a driver of prevention, reuse and repair in the EU. Together, these two initiatives merge in a unified demand for bold reform of EPR under the upcoming Circular Economy Act (CEA).
Available in English.
Europe’s Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) schemes are failing to deliver on circularity and strategic autonomy.
Our latest study, “Designing EPR to Foster the EU’s Competitiveness and Strategic Autonomy”, analyses 30 years of EPR implementation and proposes a comprehensive framework to transform EPR systems into catalysts for the circular economy transition.
The study lays out a two-pillar plan to unlock EPR’s full potential. The first pillar focuses on system optimisation, calling for harmonised rules across Member States, greater transparency, the creation of a central registry of producers, and the establishment of a European EPR oversight body to reduce administrative burden, tackle free-riding, and support a functioning single market for producer responsibility. The second pillar positions EPR as a circular economy enabler, arguing that EPR fees must go beyond cost-coverage to actively finance waste prevention, reuse, and repair, through dedicated repair funds, reuse infrastructure, and supportive policy measures.
Full repost available in English.
Executive summary available in English, Polish, Estonian, Croatian, French, and Ukrainian.