Preparing the ground for Extended Producer Responsibility in Kosovo
A year-long process dedicated to preparing the ground for introducing Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) systems for packaging waste and tires has successfully concluded.
Supported by German Government through Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH, the initiative brought together key actors from the Ministry of Environment, Spatial Planning (MESP), other line ministries and institutions, the private sector, business associations, and civil society.
Over the past year, stakeholders worked together to evaluate the technical, legal, and operational groundwork needed to modernize Kosovo’s waste sector.
Kosovo currently generates approximately 449,707.93 tons of waste per year. Due to the lack of systematically integrated source separation and recycling, the vast majority of this waste ends up directly in landfills. This linear “take-make-dispose” approach poses serious challenges, including environmental degradation, significant GHG emissions from untreated organic waste, and economic losses caused by the loss of valuable secondary raw materials that could otherwise be re-integrated into the economy.
To support reverse this situation, GIZ has been supporting institutional partners in their efforts to introduce an integrated waste management system and transition towards a circular economy. A key part of this work has been support for the drafting and now implementation of the Integrated Waste Management Strategy (2024–2035), which sets ambitious national recycling and landfill diversion targets.
What is Extended Producer Responsibility?
First introduced in Germany and later spread throughout the EU, EPR is a policy instrument that makes producers responsible for their products throughout their lifecycle, including their end-of-life management. Based on the polluter-pays principle, EPR shifts the responsibility for managing waste from certain groups of products from governmental institutions to producers. This puts producers in charge of organising and financing the collection, sorting, and recycling of waste generated by their products.
In addition to improving waste management, EPR systems can also contribute to waste reduction by creating financial incentives for producers to design more environmentally friendly products. Today, EPR is an obligation in EU legislation for a range of products, including packaging, Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE), and textiles.
Preparing EPR models for packaging waste and tires
The focus of the one-year process was to design tailored EPR models for packaging waste and tires, building on similar previous work completed for WEEE, batteries, waste oils, and end-of-life vehicles. Over the past 12 months, the work included mapping relevant stakeholders, quantifying the products placed on the market annually for both waste streams, and analysing international best practices. These findings were used to design EPR models adapted to Kosovo’s local context. The process also included the development of an implementation roadmap, setting out the steps needed to put the EPR models into practice.
With the conclusion of this process, Kosovo moves one step closer to introducing an integrated waste management system rooted in circular economy principles.
The introduction of EPR for these two waste streams is expected to bring a range of benefits. These include improved waste management services and a noticeable reduction in accumulated waste, such as old tires; the expansion and emergence of sorting and recycling activities, which can also generate new job opportunities; and overall improved environmental outcomes.
