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Managing Director of EXPRA Joachim Quoden gave a presentation to Ukrainian stakeholders in the field of packaging waste management
Recently, at the invitation of the European Business Association, EXPRA Managing Director Joachim Quoden gave an online presentation specifically for Ukrainian stakeholders in the field of packaging waste management.
Mr. Quoden dedicated his presentation to the key factors that enable the development of a successful packaging waste management system based on the EPR model. The focus of his talk was primarily on standards and advice relevant to the Ukrainian context. With over 30 years of experience in the field, EXPRA’s expertise is exceptionally valuable.
According to Joachim Quoden, for a country that is just beginning to develop its separate waste collection infrastructure, especially under challenging conditions like those in Ukraine, the optimal approach is a single EPR organization model. In the initial phase (approximately the first 10 years), a single Producer Responsibility Organization (PRO) will be able to more effectively coordinate investments and the creation of separate waste collection infrastructure across all regions.
According to the expert, most of the costs for a PROs (up to 70-80%) are related to waste collection and sorting, while administrative costs amount to no more than 2%. Therefore, competition between different PROs cannot lead to significant cost savings. However, competition can be beneficial and feasible at the operational level—among waste management operators, sorting enterprises, transport companies, and so on.
By the way, in the ranking of packaging waste recycling rates among EU member countries, the top five positions are occupied by countries with a single PRO.
“Since Ukraine will be launching its separate waste collection system essentially from scratch, you will have to make many decisions, negotiate with local authorities and other parties. From my experience, the more parties involved, the harder it is to reach an agreement and find the right decision. Many EU countries operate with a single PRO or a PRO that dominates all others. Of course, there are countries with competitive systems, but their results are usually poorer. If you do allow competition, it is crucial to establish an independent body to ensure fairness. For example, in Germany, where a competitive system operates, there was a precedent in 2014 where a PRO declared only 700,000 tons of collected plastic waste instead of the actual 2 million tons. This nearly led to a collapse of the entire system. The more freedom you give to the industry, the stricter the oversight must be. But in Ukraine’s case, I would recommend starting with a simple approach – with a single PRO. If you are not satisfied later, you can add more. However, in my opinion, additional PROs are unlikely to improve the system. I have not seen any country where competition in this sector led to lower prices and better service quality,” emphasizes Joachim Quoden.
According to the expert, when setting recycling targets, it’s important to find a balance between ambition and reality, as this approach creates the best motivation. Although Ukraine is on its path to the EU, which aims to achieve a 70% recycling rate for all packaging waste by 2030, Joachim Quoden believes that at the outset, our country should forgo specific targets and instead focus on building a separate waste collection system.
“Currently, the EU manages to recycle about 50% of all packaging waste, although some countries are far behind. However, it took us over 30 years to reach this level. We achieved our goal through incremental steps. I genuinely admire Ukraine, as creating such a system is a very ambitious project, and despite the war, you are not giving up on it. I believe that at this stage, the most important thing for you is to have a long-term plan. As part of negotiations with the EU, Ukraine should agree on the main stages of implementing European legislation and follow this roadmap. Perhaps, at the initial stage, instead of setting recycling targets, it would be better to focus on goals related to the coverage of the population with separate waste collection infrastructure. After all, this is the foundation of the entire system. Additionally, Ukraine needs as many pilot projects as possible to better understand which mechanisms work and which do not. This approach will allow for scaling successful practices in the future,” believes Joachim Quoden.
In addition to the above, EXPRA’s managing director also identifies the following factors for a successful EPR model for packaging waste:
- Clear division of roles and responsibilities of different actors as defined by law.
- Transparency of the system. All participants should report on each stage of the packaging life cycle, including the flow of funds, the amount of material recovered and lost, etc. Transparency promotes trust in the system, especially on the part of the public and companies that finance its operation.
- Effective modernization of sorting and recycling facilities is also impossible without transparency.
- Equal treatment of all producers, regardless of their scale. Each company should pay the same amount of money for the same packaging.
- Parties that receive funds from the RPO should not be part of the organization and cannot influence its activities.
- The non-profit status of the RPO, which means that the funds remain within the system and are spent exclusively on infrastructure development.
- Control over the efficiency of spending, application of tender procedures.
- The RPO should have the competencies and financial capabilities to conduct public outreach.
- The role of the government and authorities is not limited to creating legislation, but also includes monitoring, supervision and enforcement.
As the Managing Director of EXPRA emphasizes, EPR is a unified concept, but it can be implemented in various ways. Even within the EU, which is making significant efforts to standardize packaging waste management systems, there are still substantial differences between countries and even within regions of a single country. For instance, in many cases, local authorities have a significant influence on the specific model of waste separation and sorting.
At the same time, Joachim Quoden is convinced that the essence of the EPR system is reflected in the word “responsibility” that appears in its name. Responsibility implies a proactive stance from the producer, its desire to become a driving force for change, rather than merely fulfilling formal legislative requirements.
In the regular report on its activities, which EXPRA distributes among its members and stakeholders, the meeting with representatives from Ukraine was described as follows:
“Joachim Quoden introduced the best practices of EPR and the experience we have gained over the past 30 years to about 40 participants of the event. One of the central questions in the discussion was whether it is advisable for Ukraine to start the reform with the introduction of a competitive EPR model. It should be noted that responsible businesses in Ukraine should make a lot of efforts to shift the discussion on EPR from mundane issues, such as how to choose a waste management operator, to realizing the strategic need to cover the entire country with separate collection and sorting infrastructure. Achieving this is impossible without significant investments and concerted actions by industry representatives.”
