Extended producer responsibility (EPR) waste streams overview
One product can trigger several EPR obligations at once. Every waste stream carries its own registration, reporting and fees: packaging, electronics, batteries, textiles and 12 more. Start with what you place on the market.
16 waste streams 31 countries 46 producer registers
The system
How EPR waste streams work
- A waste stream is a product category
- Each waste stream defines what counts as that waste, who is obligated and what you report. Selling packaged electronics with a battery puts you in three waste streams, not one.
- Rules come from three places
- EU directives set the frame for packaging, electronics, batteries, single-use plastics, vehicles and textiles. Where no directive exists, national laws fill the gap (tyres, waste oils). And some countries add waste streams of their own, like France's AGEC filières for toys, furniture and DIY products.
- The same waste stream changes by country
- A directive tells countries what to achieve, not how. Registration, thresholds, report cadence and fees differ in every market, so packaging in Germany and packaging in France are two different jobs.
- National registers track the producers
- Before selling into a market you register there and get a producer ID that authorities and marketplaces check. Some countries split registers by waste stream, like Germany. Others run one register for every waste stream, like Denmark's DPA.
Directory
Pick your waste stream
Every guide covers what counts, who is obligated and where the rules apply.
Why EPR is organised by waste stream
Extended producer responsibility makes the company that places a product on the market pay for its end of life. What you pay for depends on what the product becomes as waste. A phone in a box is future electronic waste, future packaging waste and a future spent battery, so the law splits it into waste streams and regulates each one separately.
That split is why EPR feels bigger than it first looks. Registering for packaging does not cover your electronics. Reporting electronics does not cover the battery inside them. Each waste stream brings its own data format and deadlines, and in many countries its own register.
One product, several waste streams
Most producers trigger more than one waste stream. An electronics brand hits packaging, WEEE and batteries with a single product. A furniture maker selling into France adds the furniture filière on top of packaging. The waste stream guides above show what counts, who is obligated and in which countries the rules apply.
Where to start
Start from your catalog, not from the law. List what you place on each market, match every product against the waste streams above, and check each waste stream's country rules for the markets you sell into. That mapping decides every registration and report that follows.
Turn one product spec into any EPR report
Spec your products once. Repax generates the format each register and scheme asks for, whatever waste stream you trigger.