WASTE RECYCLING POLICIES UNDER EXTENDED PRODUCER RESPONSIBILITY: TAKE-BACK MANDATE VERSUS DEPOSIT-REFUND

Take-back mandate and deposit-refund are the most two established waste recycling policies that are consistent with the extended producer responsibility (EPR) principle. In the take-back mandate, manufacturers have to achieve a mandatory recycling target set up by the authority. In the deposit-refund, manufacturers pay a waste disposal fee (or an output tax) to the authority, which then uses the fee to subsidize the recycling sector. This paper compares these two policies and finds that their relative performance in terms of recycling rate is crucially dependent on the recycling technological efficiency. The recycling rate is higher (lower) under the deposit-refund than the take-back mandate if recycling is relatively efficient (inefficient).