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:

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.

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:

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:

EPR Sectors​

The Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) Regulations apply to the following product classes:

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:

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:

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