EPR Maldives
Zero Waste Maldives and Adelphi have developed a national Extended Producer Responsibility framework for the Maldives. The project focuses on designing a practical EPR system, defining roles and financing mechanisms, and producing a clear action plan for phased implementation.
The framework supports waste reduction, recycling, and shared responsibility between producers, government, and waste operators.
How EPR Works
Extended Producer Responsibility shifts part of the cost and responsibility for a product’s end-of-life back onto the company that made it, rather than leaving disposal entirely to government, waste operators, and consumers. In practice, this can take the form of producer-funded collection and recycling programmes, eco-modulated fees based on how recyclable a product is, or take-back schemes for packaging and hard-to-recycle materials.
For an island nation, an EPR framework is especially valuable: it creates a sustainable funding source for waste operators managing dispersed, low-density island communities, and gives producers a direct incentive to reduce and rethink packaging before it ever reaches the Maldives.