ENV-1 - Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR)

Registration

3 - Licensing

Licensing is the process to acquire authorization from a government agency to operate in a sector that has specific requirements that need to be met. In this use case, licensing is fee-based and is the process for business operators, manufacturers, importers, distributors or assemblers of e-waste products, to apply for operational permission to introduce e-waste products into the local market. The local government's Regulatory Authority makes the decision on whether or not to issue an EPR license. This license is required for all producers to acquire prior to registering the specific type of e-waste product(s) they plan to introduce into the market. Licensing application to include i.e. licensing application fee payment receipt, completed application form, certificate of domestic company registration, environmental impact assessment, audit certificates etc). Certain countries also require site visits of a producers warehouse/factory prior to approving the issuance of a license.

Workflows

Data Collection and Reporting for capturing and evaluating licensing application data submitted by producers of e-waste products.
Identification to easily be able to identify and track registered business operators applying for a license within the EPR system.
Client Case Management to help automate and manage the licensing application and approval process, schedule site visit appointments of e-waste factories/warehouses, and distinguish between new and renewal licensing applications. Moreover, support in vetting/ensuring the applicants meet the eligibility requirements, and have submitted all required documentations.
Client Communication to update producers on additional documentations required and/or application status updates/outcome.
Financial Services for facilitating one off licensing application fee payment by the producer and allocation of a fee payment receipt.

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Messaging

Scheduling

4 - Product Registration

Registration is the process of documenting and maintaining records of registered electrical and electronic products (new or used) being manufactured, distributed, imported and sold on the market. All licensed producers will be required to register the respective type of e-waste goods they wish to introduce to the market - in order to obtain a registration number/code for each type of product. As part of the product registration process: producers submit a completed product registration application form with agreement to comply to the EPR, the product user manual, installation manual, and document indicating product life span. The producer completes this registration process by paying the product registration application fee and receiving a receipt confirming payment. Some producers may be requested to submit a product sample. Based on whether a producer imports their e-waste products, additional data might be requested (i.e. import permit, product country of origin etc). Once all requirements are met, the producer receives a registration number/product code.

Workflows

Data Collection and Reporting for capturing the registration data of e-waste product(s) that will be on the market.
Identification and Registration for locating and tracking e-waste products being introduced into the market in all phases of their life cycle.
Client Case Management for automating the process in creating, collecting and organizing the registered e-waste products' records in place. This will allow the convenient access and a comprehensive view of each type/category of registered e-waste products in order to calculate EPR fees and manage compliance.
Financial Services for facilitating one-off product registration application fee payment by the producer and allocation of a fee payment receipt.

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Registration

5 - Data Verification and Validation

Data verification and validation should be coordinated with all relevant governement authorities and regulatory bodies. For the EPR system, in certain countries, the registration data collated of the e-waste producer and their products by the respective business registration and licensing authorities, is then generally checked by the Ministry of Environment, and against other government databases (eg. ID, tax, chamber of commerce, etc.) in order to fill in any missing gaps, verify and validate collected information, including authentication of all records. *Data checking approaches also vary: sometimes batch-sharing via CD, sometimes full interoperability.

Workflows

Client Case Management for storing and reviewing identification, registration, and licensing records.
Data Analysis and Business Intelligence for cross-referencing and verifying records across multiple registry sources, and reconciling gaps / overlaps.

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6 - Payment

For this use case there are three specific payments: (1) producer licensing fee, (2) product registration fee, and (3) EPR fee.

The producer licensing fee and the product registration fee are to be paid as part of each application process/phase, to the respective government agency in charge of allocating EPR licensing and EPR products registration. A payment receipt is to be provided to each producer for each payment made.

The concept of the EPR policy scheme is that an EPR fee is to be paid for each type of electrical and electronic equipments introduced into the market every year. The fee will be used at the end of the product lifecycle to cover the collection, treatment, recycling and awareness raising when it becomes e-waste. The EPR regulatory framework must clearly spell out which entity will collect the EPR fee, how much the fee is, what the methodology is being used to determine the fee, and how payment should be processed. For instance with e-waste products being imported, the EPR fee can be collected at the point/port of entry by Customs Revenue Authority or the Utilities Regulatory Authority. The EPR fee can be collected with the import tax fee etc. To facilitate this, producers could be required to declare cargo (online: e-single window) and make the payment through an online portal.

The fee to be paid could be proportional to the amount of electrical and electronic equipment introduced into the market. Below are examples of methods that can be used to arrive at the fee:

Product EPR fee paid by the producer = Total costs for waste stream divided by/ Mass of product type put on the market.
1. Market share calculation for a producer:
  - Market share = The weight of products put on the market by an individual producer per product type divided by/ The total weight of products put on the market by all producers for that specific product type
2. Obligation calculation for a producer:
  - Obligation for a producer = Total reported tonnage by product type multiplied by* Individual producer's market share
3. Total costs per e-waste product stream:
  - Total costs = Overhead costs per product type multiplied by* % Market share + Operational costs (per tonne) multiplied by* Tonnes collected
Product EPR fee paid by the producer = An EPR cost is calculated and associated for every possible type of e-waste product. Thus, the EPR fee a producer has to pay is the quantity of a product they plan to introduce into the market multiplied by the EPR cost associated with the product type.

Workflows

Financial Services for processing EPR fee payments by producers.
Client Case Management for identifying, authenticating and monitoring/verifying that the e-waste producers have made the EPR payment and the transaction has been fully processed and received.

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7 - Ongoing Case Management

This step involves ensuring information of e-waste producers are kept up to date - specifically relating to registration and licensing. Also ensuring that there is a process in place to address any complaints, grievances and appeals raised by the producers. This process should be led by the government authority's EPR compliance officers/team.

Workflows

Data Collection and Reporting for capturing changes in producer's information (e-waste products, licensing etc).
Client Case Management for identifying and recording producer interaction with EPR compliance officers and capturing reported cases on grievances / appeals etc., and for determining decisions/actions to proceed with by reviewing individual producer client case.

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Scheduler

8 - Ongoing M&E

The government authority leading the EPR implementation should also allocate a team in charge of regulating EPR compliance and enforcing penalties. A monitoring team consistently tracking all e-waste operators active in the market, registered with a license within the EPR system and payments of the EPR fee. A live database should be put in place to categorize and track e-waste products in the market and EPR fee payments from the producers. Late payments can be tracked and an automated system put in place to send out late fee penalties to the producers.

Workflows

Financial Services for processing late EPR fee payments by producers.
Client Case Management for identifying, authenticating and monitoring/verifying that the e-waste producers have made the EPR fee payment and the transaction has been fully processed and received.

Building Blocks

Identification and Verification