🌍UNOC3: Making EPR Truly Transformative – A Full House for Circular Solutions

This morning at #UNOC3, Searious Business and CITEO had the honour of hosting a packed event focused on Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR). The energy in the room was electric, filled with policymakers, funders, advocates, and practitioners all united around a single, urgent purpose: to make EPR not just effective, but transformational.

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🔊 Opening the Conversation: A Call for Bold Change

Willemijn Peeters, CEO and founder of Searious Business, kicked off the event by reminding us all:

“Plastic pollution is not just an environmental crisis—it’s a social and health crisis too. And history has taught us one thing clearly: we cannot recycle our way out of it.”

She emphasised that voluntary measures won’t cut it. For EPR to truly deliver, it must be:

• Mandatory

• Focused upstream

• Systemically embedded

And she issued a bold call to action. If we want EPR to drive real change, it must include: ✅ Production caps ✅ Prevention targets ✅ Bans, taxes, and levies ✅ Subsidies for circular innovation ✅ Cap-and-trade systems for plastic

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🧭 Insights from Around the World

The panel offered a powerful diversity of voices, bringing depth and clarity to what’s needed to make EPR work—for everyone, everywhere.

🔹 Junu Shrestha from World Bank shared how foundational waste management financing is essential—especially in countries lacking basic infrastructure. A staged, data-driven approach is key to laying the groundwork for future circular strategies.

🔹 Citeo explained how France is now moving beyond recycling to focus on prevention policies. As Marie Chauloux noted, even after 30 years of work, France still only recycles 70% of its plastic—so understanding waste origins and reducing it at source is essential.

🔹 Rahyang Nusantara from PR3 and PlasticDiet Indonesia gave a grounded view of EPR for Reuse implementation in difficult markets. He emphasised the need for behavioural change tailored to cultural realities, and the importance of acknowledging regional complexity.

🔹 Rachel from the Caribbean Biodiversity Fund shared a critical turning point:

“We are used to funding waste management initiatives. But we know now—it will never be enough.” They are now integrating reduction and reuse directly into their call for proposals, recognising the urgency of upstream solutions.

🔹 Anthony Talouli from SPREP (Pacific Regional Environment Programme) spoke to the unique challenges of island nations—limited markets, expensive logistics—and the need for economically viable systems that actually work in their geographic realities.

🔹 WWF offered a powerful reminder:

“EPR is not just a policy—it’s a systems enabler.” To succeed, it must be transparent, mandatory, and inclusive—and a key pillar of the Global Plastic Treaty.

🔹 Andres Del Castillo introduced a promising proposal: a plastic polymer fee to help bridge the financing gap for developing countries, and to fairly address the externalised costs of plastic pollution.

🔹 Sarah Baulch from Pew closed the session by capturing the momentum in the room:

“This is no longer just about end-of-life solutions. EPR has evolved into a full-lifecycle approach—one that drives upstream innovation and fuels reuse.”

💬 Our Closing Message: Turning the Tide Together

So let’s keep pushing for EPR systems that are not just efficient—but transformative. Let’s support policies that cap production, set clear prevention targets, and incentivise circular innovation. And let’s ensure no country, no community, and no coastline is left behind.

🔁 Let’s carry forward the message we opened with:

🎯 Make EPR Truly Transformative. Globally.

💡 Thank you to everyone who joined us. Let’s stay connected. Let’s stay ambitious. And most of all— Let’s keep the pressure on.

🌊 Together, we can turn the tide.