Opinion: When EPR fees become taxes, recycling pays the price

From the newsletter

As African countries implement extended producer responsibility (EPR) schemes, circularity consultant José Ramón Carbajosa warns that treating producer fees as government revenue risks leaving recycling systems without dedicated funding. Drawing on Senegal, Mozambique and Ghana, he argues that the legal treatment of these fees can determine whether EPR schemes deliver functioning recycling systems.

• “Once money enters the Treasury, the money becomes general revenue. A road, a hospital or the salary bill gets paid first, and recycling waits for a budget line which never comes,” he warns, calling for EPR laws that clearly define how producer fees are held, managed and channelled into recycling.

• Mr Carbajosa has worked across Africa, Latin America and Asia, supporting the design and implementation of EPR systems. His work spans recycling, waste management and product stewardship. He also publishes the EPR Rules of the Trade newsletter on LinkedIn, covering developments and practical lessons in extended producer responsibility.

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