Polluter Pays Principle

The polluter pays principle is a foundational environmental policy principle stating that those who produce pollution or waste should bear the costs of managing it to prevent damage to human health and the environment.

Application to packaging:

• EPR requires producers to pay for packaging waste management — not taxpayers
• Waste management fees transfer costs from local authority budgets to producers
• Modulated fees make producers who create harder-to-recycle packaging pay more
• The Plastic Packaging Tax penalises the use of virgin plastic

Before pEPR, producers only covered a fraction of packaging waste costs through the PRN system. The reformed system applies the polluter pays principle more fully by requiring producers to fund the full net cost. This creates a direct financial link between packaging placed on the market and its end-of-life management cost, incentivising better design and reduced packaging.