The amended Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) regulations, instituted in November 2020, require product importers and manufacturers in the packaging industry to contribute towards the recycling of product packaging, which has had a significant impact on waste production, says Zero Waste Technologies operations director Hein Fourie. A contentious issue in the amended regulations for manufacturing industry, particularly those in the electronic equipment manufacturing and paper and plastic packaging industries, is the requirement to become affiliates of producer responsibility organisations (PROs) which requires the payment of daily fees, based on net cost recovery to PROs, owing to the high volumes of waste they produce.
