Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR)
Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) in the European Union requires companies to manage the lifecycle of the packaging they introduce to the market, especially focusing on the end-of-life stage. This shifts responsibility from local governments to the companies themselves, ensuring that producers account for the environmental impact of their packaging.
Key Requirements and Compliance for Packaging Companies
Under EPR, companies must handle the collection, recycling, and disposal of their packaging waste, covering all types of packaging. This will often mean paying fees to collective compliance schemes or joining Producer Responsibility Organizations (PROs) that manage waste on their behalf. These organizations help companies meet the specific recycling and recovery targets set by EU regulations. Regular reporting on the amounts of packaging placed on the market and recycled is also required.
Can Qarma help?
Absolutely. Here is how Qarma can help you with your data collection, use your data for evidence and extract data for reporting.
Collect data easily with Qarma
If you use Qarma for final inspections, it is simple to set up an additional checkpoint for capturing the weights of the packaging materials. You do not need to create separate inspections in Qarma, you can simply add the data for packaging as an extra checkpoint in your existing checklists. This checkpoint should be configured to request the weight of packaging materials of glass, plastic, paper, metal, glass, wood, aluminum and iron (see specific instructions). This way you are collecting EPR-related data for the packaging for the specific shipment in a very cost-efficient way.
Prepare for auditing and controls
Besides getting the data points for packaging material, the Qarma report will also include images of the packaging as it’s laid out for weighing. If you get an audit from authorities regarding the system and process you use for collecting packaging data, you can easily show the Qarma report, tied to a specific PO and product, with a timestamp, GPS location and images showing the packaging and the weights.
Extract data for reporting
Once your shipment has been inspected, your packaging data will be in Qarma and can easily be extracted into different formats, including Excel, PowerBI or even XML for reporting to German authorities. Rather than keep track of this information in spreadsheets you can collect all your data in one place. Data can be visualized as distributions with filters to see which products contribute the most to your total packaging with a breakdown on each material.
The information can be visualized in dashboards which will allow you to see the distribution and identify areas for improvement.
Simplify with Qarma
EPR may seem complex at first, but by integrating simple data collection and reporting processes into your existing workflows, documentation becomes easier to manage.
Want to learn more about how we at Qarma can help you collect and report data? Book a demo here.
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