EPR — extended producer responsibility

Who pays for a product at end of life, and why textiles are next

Sorting materials for recycling — extended producer responsibility

Extended producer responsibility (EPR) is the principle that whoever places a product on the market also carries the financial or organisational responsibility for its end of life — collection, sorting, recycling. In practice it means a fee to a producer responsibility organisation, calculated from the quantity and type of material you placed on the market.

EPR is older than the Digital Product Passport, but the two now meet: passport data is exactly what a modulated fee is calculated from.

In short

Textiles — by April 2028

The revised Waste Framework Directive requires Member States to set up EPR schemes for textiles. That deadline binds the states; what you actually owe depends on the national scheme.

Packaging — from August 2026

Packaging EPR under the Packaging Regulation applies earlier. Textile producers frequently fall into both schemes at once — one for the product, one for its packaging.

The fee is modulated

Fees are not flat. They are modulated by how easily the product is recycled, how much recycled content it carries and how long it lasts — that is, by data the passport already holds.

EU level and national level

The principle and the deadlines are settled at EU level. Rates, scope and administration are set nationally and differ between Member States.

EPR — extended producer responsibility

Frequently asked questions

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Not as an EU obligation. The European deadline is April 2028. A Member State may launch a scheme earlier if it chooses, but that is a national decision rather than an EU requirement for an earlier year.

No. Packaging EPR covers the packaging. Textile EPR covers the product itself. They are separate obligations with separate fees.

The passport holds composition, recycled content share and end-of-life instructions. That is the evidence base for a modulated fee, instead of it being estimated from coarse averages.

Sorting materials for recycling — extended producer responsibility
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