Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) in South Africa
Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) in South Africa
Extended producer responsibility (EPR) is a waste management strategy that makes businesses responsible for what happens to their products after people use them. The goal of EPR is to reduce waste and pollution at a national scale. The South African extended producer responsibility system applies to six industries: paper and packaging, electronics, batteries, pesticides, lubricant oils, and lighting.
Under these laws, producers must facilitate environmentally-friendly disposal (such as recycling or refurbishing) for their products at the post-consumer stage.
EPR Regulations
On 5 November 2020, the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment (DFFE) published the Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) Regulations for the Electrical and Electronic Equipment (EEE), Lighting, and Paper and Packaging sectors.
On 5 May 2021, these Regulations came into effect under Section 18 of the National Environmental Management: Waste Act (NEM: WA). In March 2023, the legislation was extended to include portable batteries, lubricant oils, and pesticides. These Regulations have significant ramifications for all producers, brand owners, importers, distributors, and retailers within these sectors.
Producer Obligations:
In South Africa, all producers in the sectors mentioned above must comply with EPR by completing the following checklist:
- Register with the Department (DFFE) – you can do this on the SAWIC website.
- Join or establish a Producer Responsibility Organisation (PRO) - Join eWASA
- Develop and submit an EPR Scheme. (Producers can join an existing scheme or develop their own.)
- Pay appropriate fees to the EPR Scheme – see our fee structures HERE.
- Be accountable for the operation and performance of the EPR Scheme
- Fulfill monitoring and reporting obligations
eWASA is a registered Producer Responsibility Organisation (PRO). We have developed and submitted a comprehensive EPR scheme in compliance with the Regulations. Producers can join our scheme to tick the PRO obligation box. Learn more about our EPR scheme HERE.
Are You a Producer?
If the answer to any of the questions below is Yes, then you are a producer and have obligations under the EPR Regulations.
Do You:
Import electronics/electrical equipment (EEE), lighting, paper, packaging, lubricant oils, or portable batteries on a professional basis to South Africa?
Manufacture and sell EEE, lighting, paper, packaging, lubricant oils, or portable batteries under your own brand?
Resell EEE, lighting, paper, packaging, lubricant oils, or portable batteries produced by other suppliers, under your own brand?
Are you based outside of South Africa but sell EEE, lighting, paper, packaging, lubricant oils, or portable batteries to South African businesses and/or consumers via distance communication (e-commerce, internet, phone, catalogue)?
For the avoidance of doubt, if companies place electrical or electronic equipment, lighting, paper, packaging, lubricant oils, or portable batteries on the South African market for the first time, they must fulfil producer obligations under the EPR Regulations of 2021.
Waste Management Legislation
The Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) Regulations were published on 5 November 2020 with amendments and notices regarding EPR published on 5 May 2021 and 23 March 2023.
The EPR Regulation (R.1184) requires that existing Producers register with DFFE within six months of the amended regulations published on 5 May 2021, with a final compliance date of 5 November 2021.
Visit the resources section of our website to view the legislation and policies that are applicable to Waste Management in South Africa.
Alternatively, you can contact us to discuss the eWASA EPR Scheme and our extended Producer Responsibility Organisation (PRO) membership.
Reporting Obligations for PROs and Producers
As per the EPR Regulations, Producer Responsibility Organisations (PROs) and Producers must comply with the following reporting requirements:
1) Annual performance audit reports must be submitted to the Department within 3 months of the conclusion of the year-end, which is on 31 December.
These must be submitted to the Department as follows every year.
- The Interim performance report that must be submitted by the 31st of July covering the period Jan-July of that year.
- The Annual audited performance report that covers the period Jan-Dec at the conclusion of the year end - this must be submitted by the 31st of March of the following year.
2) Annual external performance audit report
These must be completed by a third-party auditor to track the success/failure of your EPR compliance as a Producer. External performance reports must contain:
- Performance against the published targets;
- A breakdown of how you use extended producer responsibility fees
- Your performance on all finance matters
- Governance report
- Number of jobs created through EPR activities
3) South African Waste Information System (SAWIC) reports
Producers who run their own EPR schemes (as opposed to letting a PRO run them) must report to SAWIC every year to declare how much waste they handle. Annual SAWIC reports must contain:
- How much material your business placed on the market (by weight)
- How much of that waste you collected
- How much was diverted away from landfill (recycled, reused, recovered, or refurbished)
- How much was exported
- How much was landfilled
- How many jobs were created through your activities.
EPR Sectors
The Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) Regulations apply to the following product classes:
- Electrical and Electronic Equipment (EEE)
- Lighting Equipment
- Paper and Packaging
- Portable Batteries
- Lubricant Oils
More details on the regulations applicable to these product classes can be found here.
eWASA PRO
In cases where there are significant changes to the EPR Fees for the producer/PRO, the must be a submission to the Department for that/those updates by 30 November for consideration by the Minister of DFFE for the fees to be concurred in consultation with the Minister of Finance as per Regulation 7(5) of the EPR regulations, as amended.
eWASA is a registered Producer Responsibility Organisation (PRO) in the following sectors:
- Electrical and Electronic Equipment: 19/7/6/E/PRO/20210512/001
- Lighting: 19/7/7/L/PRO/20211123/004
- Paper and Packaging: 19/7/5/P/PRO/20211123/022
- Portable Batteries: 19/7/5/P/PRO/20230710/045
- Lubricant Oils: 19/7/7/L/PRO/20240429/053
Member Benefits for Producers
eWASA has over 15 years of experience in extended producer responsibility. Our organisation handles all aspects of EPR compliance to help producers meet their legal obligations with ease. Become an eWASA member to benefit from:
- Certification with a DFFE-approved PRO
- Quality services from collection points for your retail customers
- Transparent open reporting on financial and operational data
- Regular legislative updates, guidance and seminars
- Compliance support and training for your organisation on request
- eWASA collaborates with member companies to implement projects that benefit members' material waste streams directly
- Access to our partnership networks
- Communications and assets to incorporate into your Corporate Social Responsibility reporting
- Coverage of EEE, Lighting and Paper Packaging sectors – a one-stop-shop for all your PRO needs
- Receipt of an EPR Compliance certificate which you can upload on your website
- And much more!