Extended producer responsibility

Now, what I'm looking at is how retailers are going to start dealing with this.

And because I start to think, and I can throw buzzwords out here until the cows come home, EPR, extended producer responsibility that exists in canada and in many places for things like electronics so you have to pay a fee the retailer collects those fees the brands collect them then they give them back to the governments to do final end of life for electronics right so holt renfrew is doing something interesting so holt renfrew is a luxury department store not i don't know how would you compare them like a bird off goodman or

like a neiman marcus something like that more like neiman marcus

More like a Neiman Marcus.

So they've gotten into that.

But on the radar screen is if...

EPR, Extended Producer Responsibility, starts to take place for textiles.

Watch out.

And yeah, with me to do that, I have Alexander Reitz, who is Head of Consulting at PreZero Packaging.

And he will share tips and insights and discuss pitfalls to avoid from the unique perspective of a consultancy business that was in charge of building the largest EPR system in Germany.

also is a sister company to Lidl and Kaufland, major retailers in Germany, in case you're not familiar with those.

So yeah, welcome, Alexander.

Some want their packaging data in order.

Some want their portfolio redesigned.

Some want their EPR costs to stop climbing.

I think what ties it together is that we are advising on infrastructure and supply chains that we also actively run ourselves within PreZero or Schwartz Group.

And it's putting a lot of pressure on packaging decisions and for a lot of produce companies operating in multiple markets.

So PPWR, is now moving from policy into implementation while the US states are going crazy building different EPR systems.

What changes are your customers actually making today because of these regulations? Not five years from now, but right now they're having to make changes.

What are you seeing?

point? Not an expert, not a lawyer.

So I'm just capable of reading what I have available to me and also participating in the working group with the RPA for policy.

I would say that PPWR is a little bit more focused on design of the package itself, whereas EPR here in the States and in Canada is more about responsibility and reporting.

Both of them consider end of life, but PPWR seems a little bit more concerned with, can we design for less waste? And EPR is more about who is going to be responsible for bearing the cost of all of this waste.

So when it comes to direct sales, or in general, what scouts bring to market between EVs and EREVs, what are some of the trends that you guys have seen, maybe both amongst yourselves and some of your colleagues in the industry?

Yeah, I think separate from direct sales, we are seeing a trend towards EV battery EPR.

EPR stands for extended producer responsibility.

And basically, this is the idea that producers need to be responsible for the end of life of their products.

We've seen this in other industries, packaging, individual use batteries, paint, carpet mattresses, basically making sure that consumer products have a place to go.

They don't just get thrown away necessarily at the end of their lives.

In Colorado, actually, another first mover here enacted battery EPR, EV battery EPR law this year that you really saw industry largely get behind EPR.

Some reasons for that, I think, first of all, we recognize that EV batteries have precious materials that should be recaptured.

But then the industry has also started to choose lighter weight to begin with.

Just because we have these EPR laws, we have the reality of just shipping is getting expensive.

So it's not a difficult thing to get them to change bottles because they're thinking about changing already.

The difficulty is getting them to think differently about their responsibility for the packaging that they choose and leverage the opportunities that come with reuse.

And what would you like listeners to take away from your talk tomorrow? And what do you see as a future for your company and reusable systems? You talked about the deposit reuse system, maybe opening the door to other formats.

I hope so.

Right now, policy does treat EPR materials and bottle build materials very separate.

And I think that is a lost opportunity, especially as we're looking at meeting EPR targets, mandated reuse targets through EPR models, source reduction targets through reuse, where these other systems, we know how they operate.

All they find is more cheaper-made regular vapes.

So to me, again, EPR needs to focus on training, technology, and education.

And that is where it gets into the book, right? So I appreciate it.

Hopefully that was a...

So, but like every dollar goes to buy more books and get them into kids' hands.

So, you know, we have municipalities that have gotten funding.

I've talked to a number of states that have worked on EPR that have, are trying to get it as part of their education solution.

And a lot of the, um, I mean, we've just had so much, um, positive, um, And I think everyone's really saying the same thing.

So I'm really, really excited about what you're talking about here because these proof points are how we grow this and how we get bigger.

So from PureCycle's perspective, how do you look at things like EPR? And do you feel like you are going to be able to get a benefit in growth for your technology through that?

I believe if it's done the right way, right? That's always the key.

And that's a big

So we believe there should be more of that out there because there is a difference in price because what goes into turning recycled content into food contact packaging, it's extensive.

So- The mandates help with that.

I think the EPR legislation can help with that, right? There are going to be PCR bonuses in California.

Okay.

So I just left electronic scrap and I was with someone from the EPA.

And again, these are the issues right now that we're seeing with like EPR and all the things that we're trying to solve this problem by.

And again, this is where it's education, operational best practice, and then the technology.

Technology is going to catch up and like we need to have places to drop these off as the public.

Yeah.

And you talk about EPR is going to produce responsibility.

There's going to be a lot of conversations that are going to need to be that are going to need to be had.

And especially when it comes to what you were just talking about, like the hazmat considerations and trying to make sure that the batteries are get to where they need to be.