EU Single-Use Plastics Directive - analysis of provisions and potential measures regarding extended producer responsibility

The study was to undertake a legal analysis of the Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) provisions of the EU Directive 2019/904 on the reduction of the impact of certain plastic products on the environment (Single-Use Plastics Directive, SUPD) with a view to its implementation in Germany. In a first step the EPR concept of the SUPD is compared with the EPR concept in other pieces of EU waste law. The study also analyses the conformity of the SUPD´s EPR provisions with higher-ranking EU law. A second objective of the study was to analyse potentially relevant EPR measures for the eight different SUP products covered by Art. 8 of the SUP-Directive (EPR provisions) regarding their collection, transport, treatment, clean-ups and awareness raising. The same was elaborated for the relevant provisions for fishing gear.